


Control

by WritingEmi



Series: Control [1]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Child Abuse, Community: yj_anon_meme, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Epic Friendship, Families of Choice, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash, Protectiveness, Recovery, Running Away, Team Bonding, Team as Family, Teenagers, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-23
Updated: 2013-06-23
Packaged: 2017-12-15 22:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 48,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/854868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingEmi/pseuds/WritingEmi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A response from a couple of years ago to prompt at the yj_anon_meme where Wally is emotionally abused and controlled by his father, however Wally conveniences himself that it isn't abuse due to the fact that it isn't physical.  The team finds out.</p>
<p>Warnings for emotional abuse of a minor and creative license from the early run of the Young Justice cartoon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Control

**Author's Note:**

> This is an edited version of my fic Control that I wrote a couple of years ago. No major changes, just cleaned up the grammar and style a little.

Part 1

It had started out with Artemis teasing Wally.

It was innocent enough, until Artemis found that Wally didn’t like it when people refused to call him by his name or by anything at all for that matter. No one really remembered how it started, but they remember what happened at the end. It was after a low key mission, nothing went wrong and no one was injured for once, and the teens had gathered around the kitchen. Kid Flash was not the only one who was famished after a long mission, their Friday night had bled into an early Saturday morning.

“I wouldn’t get in its way, it’s pretty hungry,” Artemis teased, referring to Wally.

“My name is Wally,” Kid Flash growled, anger leaking into his voice. He slammed the refrigerator door shut to emphasize his words after he grabbed the fixings for a sandwich. 

Artemis smiled over at Megan and said, “It seems mad at me.”

Wally clutched the knife he was using to spread mustard onto a slice of bread and ground out, “Stop it.”

“Uh, let me make that for you, KF.” Robin pried the knife out of his friend’s hand and continued making the sandwich. 

Kaldur sighed at the childishness going on and looked pointedly at their newest member, “Artemis, stop it.”

Artemis rolled her eyes, “Oh please, whenever it starts yapping no one bothers to shut it up. But once I get a bit mouthy you jump at me in an instant.”

“Call me Wally.” Kid Flash’s hands clenched and began shaking with the excess energy that was building up in him along with his anger.

Megan looked nervously over at Wally. He was projecting loudly and it was beginning to worry her, she was used to Superboy’s anger, but she had never felt it from Wally before. She reached out to her friend and gently laid her hand on the other girl’s arm, “Artemis, maybe you should stop.”

But Artemis didn’t let up, she enjoyed getting under Wally’s skin. “Don’t defend it, Megan, not after the way it hits on you all the time.”

“MY NAME IS WALLY! I’M A GODDAMN PERSON! CALL ME WALLY!” 

Everyone jumped at Wally’s outburst and a heavy silence fell over the room. 

Once Wally caught his breath and managed to slow his racing heart, he looked at his friends and his heart sank, he could see that he had frightened them. He never meant to make his friends afraid. Taking a step back to distance himself from them, he apologized, “S-Sorry, I’m sorry. I’m tired, I just—I didn’t mean to yell.”

“Wally,” Megan moved towards him but stopped when he backed away from her. She was more surprised by the movement than worried, Wally never moved away from her.

“Sorry,” he apologized again, pulling his cowl back so he could rub at his face to feign sleepiness. “I’m just tired. I’m going to bed.”

Wally ran to his room before anyone else could get a word in. As soon as the door was closed and locked behind him, he stripped out of his suit and into his flannel pajama pants and his Green Lantern T-shirt with shaking hands. After he changed he noticed the trembling in his hands had spread to the rest of his body. He crawled into bed and curled up into a ball, pressing his knees into his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs. Tears burned in his eyes and his chest constricted in what felt like the beginning of an anxiety attack. He didn’t mean to lose control in front of his friends, he didn’t mean to worry them, to frighten them, to yell at them. His body shook as he tried to reign in the urge to cry.

The mattress next to him sunk down and an arm wrapped around Wally’s torso.

“Just breathe, Wally, you’ll be alright, breathe.”

Wally listened to the calming voice and his breathing evened out after a few seconds. The reassurance that he wasn’t alone and the feel of the arm wrapped around him helped to soothe the anxiety that had been suffocating him only a moment before. Once he had calmed down Wally uncurled his body, but he didn’t dare to turn to look at the younger teen laying in the bed next to him, afraid Robin would see the tears that still lingered in his eyes despite the darkness of the room.

“How did you get in here, Rob? I locked the door.”

“Like that would stop me,” Robin grinned. His smile faded and he moved closer to his friend, “So, you want to tell me what that was about? Minus the bull about you just being tired.”

“Artemis is annoying,” Wally answered. “She’s not Roy.”

“That may be so, but that’s not what’s bothering you. Tell me what’s going on.”

“First tell me your identity.”

Robin flinched behind of him. “What? No. And don’t change the subject.”

“Tell me your identity and I’ll tell you what happened.” It was dirty move, but it gave Wally an instant upper hand in the conversation. He knew if he started it then Robin would back down.

“Ok, so you really don’t want to talk about it. I’m just worried about you, so is everyone else.”

“I know, I was tired.”

“Spare me your excuses. But you know if you want to talk—”

“I know, you’re here for me. And thanks, man, for being there.” Wally felt better, he took control of the situation and it did make him happy to know that Robin wasn’t mad at him for earlier. He turned over, careful not to disturb the arm around him too much, so he was facing his friend and grinned, “You know, I think you’re losing your investigative skills and at such a young age too.”

“Dude, I just let you off the hook, don’t push it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Now get out, it’s like 3AM, let me sleep.” Wally gently pushed Robin away and tugged up his bright red comforter with yellow lightning bolts and pulled it over his head, signaling his desire for sleep

Robin slipped out of the room to let his friend rest. He walked down the hall and made a mental list of things to do to figure out what was wrong with his friend. The outburst could have been nothing, it could just be that Wally was in a bad mood and Artemis was being pretty obnoxious. But Wally’s silence on the subject spoke volumes and while Robin said he wouldn’t force the topic, it didn’t mean he would leave it alone. His four years of being Batman’s partner taught him to be patient and persistent.

 

Part 2

It was difficult to run at a normal pace, but Wally knew better than to risk using his speed out in the open without his uniform on. But it was tempting, especially as he was running late coming home from school. His math teacher who was also the track coach had cornered him after school and asked him again to join the track team. Looking down at his watch he saw that it was a quarter to four and while his dad usually didn’t get home until six, he didn’t want to run the risk of him coming home early and Wally not being there.

When he opened the front door to his parents’ house, Wally heard the sound of people talking and he thought he was going to throw up right then and there. His dad had come home early.

But as he listened he noticed that were three voices, all of them were familiar, but none of them belonged to his dad. Taking off his shoes at the entrance, Wally quietly padded over to the kitchen and for the second time in less than an hour he thought he was going to throw up. Sitting at the kitchen table was his mom, smiling cheerfully. Sitting across from her was Robin and Superboy, who were both dressed in their civvies and Robin was wearing his annoying sunglasses. They were both munching on a plate of freshly baked cookies.

Mary West turned to look at her son with pride on her face and said, “Wally, I didn’t know you had taken up tutoring.”

Wally opened his mouth and the only thing that came out was, “Huh?”

“I know, my big brother is such an idiot when it comes to physics, thanks again for helping him, Wally, he wouldn’t be able to graduate without you,” Robin said sweetly. Superboy just rolled his eyes and shoved another cookie into his mouth. Robin then smiled at Mary, “And thank you, Mrs. West, for letting us study here. Conner isn’t allowed in the library after the … incident.”

“Oh, don’t mention it, Tim, Wally never brings home any friends. I’m so happy that he invited you boys over,” Mary looked rather pleased. “I always worry that Wally isn’t normal enough.”

Superboy narrowed his eyes at Mrs. West’s odd comment. “What—”

“Let’s go study in my room,” Wally cut off Superboy and tried his best not to glare at his friends. They were lucky that Wally didn’t have heat vision or both of them would’ve burst into flames at that moment.

“Thank you again, Mrs. West,” Robin grinned and motioned for Superboy to follow him. He watched as Wally stomped ahead of them upstairs and noticed with worry that the speedster didn’t even grab a cookie.

The boys gathered in Wally’s room and jumped when he slammed the door behind them, now openly glaring at them. In a low voice, he growled out, “What the hell are you guys doing here?”

“Just wanted to see where you live,” Robin explained easily. “You’re always so open about everything, I didn’t think you’d mind us dropping by.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell my mom who you guys were, or you know, tell me you were coming, Tim.” Sarcasm dripped from Wally’s voice when he said the name Tim, it was one of the aliases Robin used on the occasion. He knew that the unexpected visit had something to do with the incident over the weekend when he yelled at his friends, but he didn’t know what Robin would be looking for or why he would bring Conner with him.

“I thought you’d like the surprise.”

“Your room is bare,” Superboy commented as he looked around the bedroom. Conner’s own room at Mount Justice wasn’t filled with things, but it was more than the minimalist design of Wally’s bedroom.

Robin looked around and automatically saw what Superboy saw. There was nothing. Wally’s room at Mount Justice had pictures of the team and the Flash all over the walls, there were books, comics and science magazines on the bookshelves, little mementos and action figures of the Justice League and their teen partners on free shelf space, first prize ribbons from school science fairs pinned above the cluttered desk, and Flash sheets and comforter over the bed. But this room had bare white walls, a solid blue blanket with matching sheets on the bed, a desk with a neat pile of textbooks and papers, and a walk-in closet. It looked more like one of the rooms at Arkham Asylum than the bedroom of a fifteen year old.

“Jesus, Wally, where is all your stuff?” Robin opened up the closet to see if there was anything in there, but he was met with some neatly hanging clothes and a small set of drawers. There were only a few shirts and sweatshirts hanging in the closet and from the size of the dresser Robin determined that it could hold no more than some underwear, socks and pants.

Wally shifted uneasily from foot to foot and automatically answered, “We’re going to repaint the room, so all my stuff is packed up.”

Superboy frowned and cocked his head to the side, obviously listening to something that the others couldn’t hear. “You’re lying. Your heart is beating too fast.”

So that was why Robin brought Superboy, Wally mused to himself, becoming increasingly anxious by their presence. They weren’t supposed to be there, they weren’t supposed to know.

“Look, you guys can’t stay. Thanks for dropping by, but you have to go.”

Robin crossed his arms and sat down on the bed, making himself comfortable. “So pushy, KF, your mom doesn’t seem to have a problem with us being here. She seems thrilled that you have some friends.”

“She’s happy that he’s acting normal,” Superboy spat out the words.

The sudden sound of a car pulling into the driveway made Wally’s heart lurch. But before Wally could convince his friends to escape through the window, his mother opened the door and peaked her head in the room. She smiled at the boys and said, “Wally, bring your friends downstairs, your father came home early.”

Wally nodded his head, “Yeah, we’ll be down in a sec.”

As soon as Mrs. West disappeared, Robin got to his feet and gripped Wally’s shoulder. “Wally, are you alright? You look like you’re going to faint.”

“His heartbeat is getting faster,” Superboy added.

“No, I’m fine,” Wally brushed off Robin’s hand and gave his friends a shaky smile. “Come on, it’s best not to keep my dad waiting.”

The three teenagers made it downstairs and to the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. West were talking. Rudolph West gave the boys an easy smile and shook Robin and Superboy’s hands before putting a companionable hand on Wally’s shoulder.

“It’s good to meet some of my son’s friends. I hear my son is helping you with your studies, Conner,” Mr. West addressed Superboy. “I’m glad to hear that he’s doing something worthwhile with his time. Unfortunately I’m going to have to ask you boys to head home, it’s rare I get home early and I was hoping to take the family out.”

“That’s ok, sir, it’s our fault for coming unannounced. It was nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. West. We’ll see you later, Wally,” Robin replied and nodded to Superboy before they exited the house.

A few moments of dreadful silence went by before the hand on Wally’s shoulder tightened its grip. Rudolph West didn’t even look at Wally as he said, “I don’t remember giving you permission to spend your time tutoring.” He shoved Wally away from him and turned to his wife before he left the kitchen, “Don’t give it any dinner and keep it quiet, I don’t want to hear anything from that thing tonight.”

Wally stood rooted in the kitchen, the knot in his stomach tightening and his hands trembling with a familiar anxiety.

“Oh sweetie,” Mary West whispered to her son, “it wouldn’t be like this if you were normal.”

 

Interlude – Iris and Her Nephew

The car ride home was a silent one, Iris Allen was busy being consumed with worry and Wally was wallowing in his own misery. He had fainted during his gym class and was forced by the school nurse to go home. When his mom and dad didn’t answer their phones at work, his Aunt Iris was called and she arrived at the school in less than fifteen minutes to take him back to her house to take care of him.

Wally tried not to think of why he collapsed earlier. The night before his father had deprived him of his dinner and the only thing Wally had eaten before that was the barely edible lunch served at school. In the morning his mom had set out a plate for him for breakfast lifting his hopes, but she refused to serve him any food, saying that his dad was still mad at him. For Wally not eating was a dangerous thing, even if he wasn’t using his speed. His metabolism was always on, rapidly burning away energy and skipping meals left him feeling weak.

His growing apprehension over Robin and Conner’s appearance at his house a couple of days ago didn’t help matters either. The more he thought about it, the more it raised his anxiety, he knew he had been acting off and when Robin’s curiosity was piqued he didn’t stop until it was satisfied. He was so paranoid that Wally started searching his house for bugs or any recording devices whenever he got the chance. Trying to figure out all the nooks and crannies Robin could get into was certainly difficult.

“Go get dressed in your pajamas and lay down in bed, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Iris Allen ordered once they arrived at her house and she helped the young speedster up to the guestroom that Wally used when he spent the night. His clothes filled the closet and a few of his things graced the room, a couple of pictures, books, and his prized Flash action figure he had for years.

Wally watched as his aunt left the room and changed into his pajamas. As much as he hated being babied he knew better than to try to argue with Aunt Iris. He caught a glance of himself in the mirror hanging in the closet and he saw why his aunt seemed so worried. His red hair was a mess, his skin was sickly pale, dark circles were under his dulled eyes and his face was pinched with the pain from his headache.

By the time he got into bed, Iris had returned with a tray laden with food, sliced up fruit, leftover pot roast, a couple of sandwiches, rice, a salad and a pot of tea, and put it down on the nightstand within Wally’s reach. She helped him sit up before sitting down on the edge of the bed and handing Wally some aspirin, though they both knew it would only give him some temporary relief.

“Ironic that I get the call that you’re hurt at school after all of the dangerous places you’ve been,” she commented, laughing a little. She then smoothed back red hair and pressed her hand to Wally’s cool forehead. “You’re not running a fever, so you’re not sick. Did you eat enough?”

“I could eat some more,” Wally smiled tiredly. 

“Then eat all you want and get some sleep.” Iris smiled back at her nephew. Her mouth fell open though when the food disappeared in less than a minute, she knew that Wally ate fast, but this time he ate like the food might not be there if he waited. “Did you even chew your food?”

Wally shrugged sheepishly, “I was hungry.”

“I’ll let you rest, dear. Let me know if you need anything.” Iris moved to stand up, but a cool hand on her wrist stopped her. She looked curiously at her nephew, who suddenly seemed to be working something out in his inquisitive mind. “What is it, Wally?”

“Do … Do you ... Do you ever wish Uncle Barry was … You know, normal?”

“Normal?” Iris repeated and then she understood what he was asking. “You mean that he didn’t have his powers?”

“Yeah.”

“I think I used to,” Iris admitted and her heart ached at the fallen look on her nephew’s face. “It wasn’t really about his powers, but I was always worried about him not coming back, I still worry about the both of you. But being a hero is part of what makes Barry who he is and I love him even more for his ability to be so selfless. Now I can’t even think of a life with Barry without his powers. It seems kind of like a boring life, huh?” Iris chuckled. She studied the teen’s face and watched as he absorbed her words. “Wally, why would you ever ask such a thing?”

“I was just wondering,” Wally answered lamely, turning his head away. 

What he really wondered was if things at home had been better before he became Kid Flash. They had been better, not good, but better when he was what his mom considered normal. No, that wasn’t right, he had never been normal. He had always been rather mouthy which made him the target of his dad’s temper and his surprising intellect when it came to science almost scared his mom. But things had been better before.

Iris wrapped her arms around Wally and pulled him into a hug. She couldn’t know what her nephew was thinking, the dark thoughts that plagued his mind, but Iris made her best guess and she figured it to be the issues that all teenagers often faced. She knew that teens sometimes suffered from insecurities, but being both a teen and a hero must be hard for her nephew. Not only did he have to suffer from the pressures of high school, but Wally also had the responsibilities that came with being a hero. While he didn’t go out saving the world like Barry did with the Justice League, he was a hero to Central City and he did important work for the League with his team. Such pressures must’ve been difficult for her nephew and Iris couldn’t blame him for wanting to have a normal life.

“Wally, I know this is a difficult time in your life. Just remember that I love you and that you’re perfect the way you are, with or without your powers,” Iris whispered fiercely to the teen in her arms.

Wally buried his face into his aunt’s shoulder as she tightened her hold on him, rubbing his back in gentle small circles. He tried not to cry, but quickly lost that battle, soaking the fabric of her shirt.

No one had ever said anything so nice to him before.

 

Part 3

The communicator went off on Thursday night, only a day after Wally had collapsed at school. He listened eagerly to Kaldur’s voice on the other end, telling him that they would be intercepting a large shipment of drugs similar to ones that the Kobra cultists had. A rush of excitement went through him, the same one he felt every time he got a call for a mission, it made him feel alive in a way he never had just as his parents’ son.

He grabbed his goggles from where they were hidden in the bottom drawer of his dresser and shoved them into his pocket for later. Wally didn’t know why he kept them in his room, it was stupid, but it made him feel better having them close by. The goggles were his, a personal possession and his parents didn’t know that he had them, that he kept them in the sterile space of his bedroom. He knew every detail about the goggles, the exact shade of red they were, the specs that allowed him to see in different spectrums of light, the glass the lenses were made of, and the plastic, rubber and metal that held them together. They were a simple object, a part of his uniform, and they helped to soothe him.

The sound of the TV told him that his parents were in the living room. Wally could already imagine his father watching the news while sitting in his armchair and his mother curled up on the couch, one arm propped on the armrest and in her other hand a drink she made herself after dinner. It was a sign that it had been a good day, his dad wasn’t ranting to his mom, and his mom was left in peace so she could drink herself into believing she had a perfect family. 

Silently moving down the stairs with stealth that Wally didn’t even display during missions, he made his way towards the living room. His chest constricted tighter and tighter the closer he got. He stopped in the doorway to the room, not daring to cross the imaginary –but so real– boundary between the cold tiled floor of the kitchen and the plush carpet of the living room. Even though he didn’t say anything, it didn’t take long before his presence was known.

“Sweetie,” Mary West slurred a bit, “do you remember when you were little? You would watch cartoons down here on Saturday mornings. You were such a good boy.”

Wally swallowed despite the dryness in his mouth and nodded, “Yes, Mom, I remember.”

“Such a good boy.”

“Mary, what does it want?” Rudolph asked his wife. He looked down at Wally’s feet and was satisfied that he hadn’t stepped onto the carpet.

“Sweetie, what do you want?” Mary echoed airily, her face glowing in her reminiscence.

“I got called for a mission,” he answered.

Mary West’s expression darkened immediately and she shifted her attention back to her drink.

Rudolph’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about yesterday and you skipping school with your faked fainting spell. Don’t push your luck with this mission bullshit, you’re lucky I let you eat today.”

“Yes, sir, I am lucky. Thank you, sir,” the response was automatic and Wally was careful to keep his tone as neutral as possible. Dinner for Wally had been a small piece of lemon chicken and a scoop of green beans. He didn’t complain or ask for seconds, he knew not to.

“Go back upstairs,” Rudolph dismissed him.

“If I don’t go the Flash will get suspicious, sir.” 

It was the only leverage Wally had. His father didn’t know that Barry Allen was the Flash, who Rudolph was rather chummy with. The elder West was all smiles and politeness in front of Barry and Iris, but because his father didn’t know who the Flash was the superhero seemed more distant and more dangerous. The Flash was beyond his father’s control and influence and Wally knew that deep down it probably frightened his father. It also worked against Wally though, as it only added fodder to Rudolph West’s anger towards his own son.

“Then go on your goddamn mission.”

“Thank you, sir.” Wally waited for a moment to see if his mother would acknowledge him again, but she did not.

After Wally put on his shoes he grabbed the doorknob to open the front door when a glass cup flew by his head, missing it by a centimeter, and exploded against the door. Wally didn’t move even though his super speed would have allowed him to evade the chunk of glass that fell onto his outstretched hand. Super speed was not allowed inside the house.

He watched with a detached sense of fascination as blood welled up on the back of his hand from where the glass had sliced open a shallow cut. He was distracted enough that he was surprised when he was shoved against the door from behind, not too hard, just enough to get his attention. It was to intimidate, not to inflect pain.

“Don’t forget who you belong to, don’t forget that you’re not a hero. You’re a freak, a thing.”

“I won’t forget, sir.”

He listened to his father walk away before opening the door and running towards the Allen household where the portal that would take him instantly to Mount Justice was setup. Relief flooded his body when he went through it and found himself at the team’s HQ and the tingle of the excitement he felt earlier returned. Tonight would be a good night, they would stop the bad guys and save the day. He would use his powers to his delight and relish the moments when Wally felt like he was the master of speed and time.

The relief and excitement was short lived though as he saw the glare on Batman’s face.

“Whoa, what happened? Did someone’s dog die?” Wally skidded to a halt.

“You have not been cleared to work in the field,” Batman stated with cool precision. He really should have figured that his Uncle Barry would rat him out to Batman.

“I apologize, I wouldn’t have called you if I had known that you were ill yesterday,” Kaldur shot Wally a sympathetic look.

“You should go home and recover, Wally,” Megan added. 

Wally argued with them all, “Come on, I feel fine! There’s gotta be something I can do!”

“Go home.”

“Please! Maybe I can do surveillance or hack something, anything to help the team.” The pleas sounded pathetic even to Wally, but he couldn’t go back home. 

Batman seemed to measure him up for a moment before saying, “I did finally manage to get a sample of the drug, but I haven’t gotten the chance to break down its components. I trust you can do that.” 

When Batman took a test tube out of his utility belt and gave it to Wally, the teen’s face broke out into a large grin. It thrilled him to have a special assignment from Batman and to figure out the puzzle of the drug, to figure out all of its little components and take a peek into the universe of science. “I’ll do my best.”

The Dark Knight nodded. “The rest of you, be ready to leave in half an hour.”

The team gathered around Kid Flash briefly after their dismissal, with Kaldur asking him how he was doing and a promise from Megan that she would make him some chicken soup. Even Artemis seemed a little concerned, making a flippant comment about how terrible he looked, but her voice didn’t have its usual attitude. Superboy just gave him his patented Superboy stare, a mixture of anger and something else Wally couldn’t decipher. And Robin had hung back a bit, obviously wanting to talk to Wally alone.

“Here, KF, you dropped these,” Robin held out Wally’s goggles to him as soon as their friends had gone in different directions to get ready for the mission.

“Oh! Thanks, man.” He stretched out his hand to take the goggles and as soon as his fingers wrapped around his eye gear, Robin snatched his hand in his own.

“What happened to your hand?” Robin questioned. Gloved fingertips lightly traced the bright pink, newly healed cut as Wally’s metabolism had made quick work of the cut.

Wally’s cheeks went red and an unfamiliar chill went through him at the contact. “Cut myself on a knife while doing the dishes.”

“Are you sure?”

“What? Of course I’m sure, I was there.” The speedster reluctantly pulled himself free from Robin’s grasp. “Now go to your mission. I’ll be here figuring out this drug.”

“Won’t be the same without you, KF. I won’t have to worry about having to save you, telling you to shut up, getting you to pay attention, you know, the usual.” Robin grinned as his friend rolled his eyes at him. “Hey, you’ll be around tomorrow, right?”

Wally blinked. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’ll be around.”

“Good, I want to see you.”

Robin started walking towards his room to double check to see he had everything for the mission. It felt wrong to leave Kid Flash behind, but lately there were a lot of things about Wally that felt wrong. His outburst, the way he acted at home, the supposed illness that Robin knew was him fainting at school. Robin found that between his friend’s odd behavior and the disturbing evidence that he had collected that his joint investigation with Conner was becoming increasingly troubling, leading them down darkened paths. 

“Rob!”

The Boy Wonder turned on his heels in a second.

“Bring me back a souvenir! I want something awesome!”

Well, not all things about Wally felt wrong.

Robin just snorted and walked away. He flexed his fingers and his heart skipped a beat when he thought he could still feel Wally’s warmth in his hand. To Robin there were a lot of things about Wally that felt right.

 

Part 4

It was late into the night when Wally finally made it home. He heard over the com-link that the mission had been a success and after some hard work he was able to break down the components of the drug and even wrote a report for Batman. Tiptoeing through the house, he made it to his room without incident and he flopped down on his bed. 

His hand wandered to the pair of goggles sitting in his pants pocket and pulled them out, looking at them in light coming from the streetlight outside his window. Fingertips wandered over the frames, memorizing again every crease and bump along the goggles, pausing when he brushed over something foreign lodged in the frame. He would have to examine them during the day when he wasn’t so tired. Too tired to undress, Wally closed his eyes, convincing himself that he would get up in a minute to brush his teeth and wash his face before bed. 

Wally jerked up as the door to his room swung open and overhead light was flipped on. Morning had snuck up on him, closing his eyes for a minute had turned into a few hours, still holding onto his goggles like a teddy bear.

“So the thing made it home alive.” The words came out harsh and the tone was icy. Rudolph West was already dressed for the day, ready to go to work, but he made a detour to his son’s room.

“Yes, sir,” Wally shifted his gaze down to the floor and he unconsciously clutched his goggles.

Rudolph caught sight of what his son was holding onto and snatched it from him. “What the hell are these?”

Wally tensed. “My goggles, I forgot to leave them with the rest of my costume last night, sir.”

“I thought I said I didn’t want any of your freakish stuff in the house.” Rudolph tossed the goggles to the ground before stomping on them with the hard sole of his black leather shoe. With that, he left the room, ignoring the pained look on his son’s face.

The crunch of the lenses hurt Wally more than it should have. They were just a pair of goggles. With shaking hands and watering eyes, Wally picked up the frames that were mostly undamaged, but the lenses were completely trashed. He did his best to not to watch the shower of glittering glass as he lifted up the frames from the ground, but something dark caught his attention. Kneeling down Wally looked through the wreckage of his goggles and found black shards of metal that were not a part of the design of his eye gear. 

Green eyes widened drastically when he found something dark, flat and metal peeking from the frame of the goggles. With unsteady fingers he extracted the piece of metal and hoped it wasn’t what he knew it was. It was half destroyed, but the other half was intact and Wally saw a distinctive wing shape that he had seen a hundred times before. 

God, how many times did Wally laugh to himself when Robin would place one of his bugs in a discrete place so they could listen in on the bad guys? Hell, he and Robin would laugh together over how clever they were and how stupid the villains were for not sweeping for bugs. And now here he was looking at one of the same bugs Robin was so fond of using, the bugs that he had frantically searched his house for, and here it was, tucked inside his precious goggles. 

Now there were a million questions running through his mind. Like how long had it been there? Was it just last night when Robin told him he dropped his goggles? Had it been longer than that? Or had it always been there? Were there more? If so, where were they? Most importantly though, how much did Robin hear?

His chest hurt, it hurt so much, and air couldn’t make it into his lungs. Leaning forward on his arms, he braced himself on the ground, gasping desperately to catch his breath between strangled sobs. The only thought that calmed him was that maybe the sound had been muffled through the goggles, maybe nothing could be heard and that’s why Robin hadn’t said anything to him yet.

What if Robin knew, but just didn’t care?

No, he couldn’t think like that. He knew that Robin cared about him. They would talk tonight and Wally would straighten things out if Robin brought up the topic of his home life. He would be able to reason with Robin, things would be the way they were before Artemis had gotten under his skin and stirred his best friend’s suspicions. As long as Wally could hold onto that thought then he could pull himself together.

By the time he made it downstairs, his dad had already left for work and his mom had finished making breakfast. A plate of dinosaur shaped pancakes sat at his spot at the breakfast table with a bottle of maple syrup and a large glass of milk off to the side. It was the breakfast his mom used to make him long before he became Kid Flash. Before his second grade teacher had told his mother how bright Wally was, how much the little boy enjoyed the field trip to Central City’s Museum of Natural History and that Wally had a genuine gift for science that should be nurtured and celebrated. Before his mom began to see him as a freak that took away her perfect little son.

His stomach turned at the sight of the breakfast.

“Remember when I used to make this for you?” Mary asked her son. “You used to be so happy to eat dinosaur pancakes. That was before you knew anything about them. Then you wouldn’t stop talking about them, you just knew everything,” a biting edge developed in her tone.

“Yes, Mom.”

“Why can’t you be like that again?” The whisper was sad and filled with a sense of longing.

“I’m sorry, Mom.” And he was.

“Just go to school,” she murmured, taking the plate and throwing it, along with the pancakes, into the trash.

“Bye.”

He didn’t go to school though. Between his encounter with his dad, the bug in his goggles and his mom’s growing indifference towards him, Wally didn’t think he could handle going to school. Being away from Central City for a few days would be worth the punishment for his dad getting a call from the school for his unexcused absence. He ran to the portal that would take him straight to Mount Justice, it was the only place he could think to go as he didn’t want to bother his aunt and uncle twice in one week, and in seconds he was standing inside the mountain. Once the computer announced his presence, Megan was flying towards him, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead to check his temperature.

“Are you still sick, Wally? You feel warm. Don’t worry, I’ll make you comfortable!” She seemed thrilled to take care of him, many hilarious shows on TV had taught her how to handle a protesting sick friend.

“Megan! This isn’t the way I’ve imagined you manhandling me!” Wally yelped as he was lifted off the ground with telekinesis and he tried to twist away when a sweatshirt came floating towards him. His arms were jerked up and he soon found himself wearing an oversized black sweatshirt that must’ve belonged to Conner. Megan had also removed his shoes and placed him on the couch in front of the TV with a blanket thrown over him.

“Don’t move, I’ll know if you have,” Megan ordered firmly in a way that made Wally think of his aunt. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, not under your watch,” Wally winked at Megan.

Megan pretended not to notice the wink and continued, “I’ll make you chicken soup! I saw a recipe on the Food Network. Did you know they have an entire channel on TV dedicated to food?”

“It’s my favorite thing to watch, besides you, of course.” Wally grinned as Megan flew out of the room. As he watched her leave, he caught sight of Superboy hiding in the hallway, not noticing Wally’s gaze on him, talking quietly while touching the com-link in his ear. Wally strained to listen to the conversation, wishing for not the first time that super hearing came along with super speed.

“… just got here …” Conner’s voice was barely audible and Wally only caught snippets of the one sided conversation. “… sick, but … Megan’s … eye on him … What? Don’t tell me what to do …” There was a long pause of silence before Connor nodded his head. “… Ok, fine … keep watch …”

Wally sunk further down into the couch before Superboy saw him. He flipped on the TV to hopefully cover up the sound of his pounding heart. He wanted to leave and he wondered why he came to Mount Justice in the first place, especially after finding out that his best friend and now Conner was spying on him. The bits of his life that he had kept to himself were quickly spiraling out of his control. Why did he come here?

“I’ll keep you company,” Megan interrupted his thoughts and beamed as she came back into the room with some orange juice and slightly burnt cookies. “I was baking these for you, but I guess I got distracted since you came here so early. And according to TV human physiology responds well to orange juice when they’re unwell.”

Wally couldn’t help smiling at the pretty Martian sitting next to him and took a big bite out of one of the singed cookies, not wasting a crumb. This was why he came to Mount Justice.

 

Part 5

Dick Grayson only had a couple of minutes before he needed to leave for the opening of a free clinic in Gotham that Bruce Wayne was funding, but he now knew he wasn’t going. After a fast conversation with Conner over their com-link Dick knew where he had to be. Thankfully his school was still in summer vacation, but he had other obligations as Bruce’s ward. Nimble fingers got rid of the tie around his throat and he stripped himself of the dark blue suit he was wearing. He threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and grabbed his sunglasses. His utility belt was tucked away, but within easy reach for emergencies. 

A sharp knock on the door alerted Dick that Alfred was waiting for him. The teen opened the door and the older man on the other side lifted a questioning eyebrow at the sight of his young master.

“Master Dick, you do realize we are to leave in less than two minutes?”

“I’m not going, Alfred,” Dick replied as he started down the stairs. “I got a new lead on an investigation I’ve been conducting.”

“Oh my,” Alfred muttered. “I will go inform Master Bruce then.”

“I already heard,” Bruce said as he appeared at the bottom of the staircase, making Dick freeze midway down the stairs. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to think of anything that Dick might be working on his own, but nothing came to mind. “What investigation?”

“It’s a personal one,” Dick answered, deliberately being vague.

“Personal?”

“Personal. Look, I’m just going to talk to someone and it can’t wait. I’ll fill you in once I get some solid information.”

Bruce crossed his arms and glared. “Or you will tell me now.”

“I can’t,” it came out in a hushed whisper. “Please, trust me on this. It isn’t life or death, but it’s really important to me, the person … He’s really important to me.”

“Wally.” The World’s Greatest Detective deduced it rather quickly and the slight flinch from his ward spoke volumes.

The billionaire pressed his lips together into a firm line, displaying his growing displeasure over the situation. Not that Bruce was one to advocate for the privacy of his teammates, he had countless files on the Justice League, but Dick was not the same as him. An investigation conducted by Dick suggested that there was something seriously wrong, and the two options that came to Bruce’s sharp mind was either that Wally was hurting the team or that Wally was being hurt. Knowing Barry Allen as a colleague and as a good friend, Bruce highly doubted the former and dreaded the latter.

“Why are you investigating your friend? Are you suspicious of his loyalties?” It was best to get the more serious option out of the way.

Dick was shocked over the question and quickly came to his friend’s defense. “What?! KF would never betray us! How could you think that?”

That satisfied Bruce, but it left an almost equally disturbing option. “Then tell me what’s going on.”

“I need to confirm something. And then I’ll tell you, I promise. Trust me.”

Bruce walked up the stairs to where Dick was still standing and wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulders and pulled him close, whispering, “Be careful when investigating your friends, you might not like what you find. I know from experience.”

Dick closed his eyes and nodded. “The moment it becomes too much I’ll ask you for help. Just trust me.”

Bruce Wayne stepped back from his ward and said. “Go, I expect a thorough update tonight.”

A relieved smile appeared on Dick’s face. “Thank you, for trusting me.”

The thirteen year old ran down to the Batcave and grabbed his mobile computer that was usually a part of his uniform. There was a message on the screen that alerted Dick to the destruction of one of his bugs, but that the precious information on it had been saved. The saved audio file appeared on the screen and Dick ran the recording, it was best to review the evidence before jumping back into an investigation. While the audio recording went on for hours, the majority of it was Wally talking to the team via his com-link during their mission, muttering to himself as he finished his assignment for Batman and sleeping once he got home. Dick didn’t learn much from those sections of the audio file, except that Wally lightly snored, so he skipped most of it. But there was something at the very end that chilled him to the bones. It was a short conversation before his bug was destroyed, but it was the most revealing thing in the audio file.

After listening to the conversation at least a dozen times, he pulled up the full background checks he had run on Rudolph and Mary West, along with their own parents. He even had all of Wally’s medical records, even the ones under the fake names Wally would use when needed. The Boy Wonder was nothing if not thorough. 

By the time he finished his work, Dick noticed it had been a couple of hours. He made his way to Mount Justice where Conner was waiting for him as was Kaldur. Robin tilted his head to the side, a silent question to Conner about the presence of Aqualad. 

Kaldur recognized the gesture right away and stepped towards Robin, “Conner has informed me of what is going on. Don’t get mad at him, I made him tell me. I have been concerned about Wally as well.”

Robin relaxed a little, he was happy to know that he wasn’t the only one who was worried about Wally. “Where is he?”

“In his room, Megan decided he needed a nap,” Superboy seemed annoyed. “Then she went out to get more orange juice and stuff to make chicken soup, she says it’ll make him better. She believes everything she sees on TV.”

Robin nodded mindlessly and said, “I’ll go talk to him.”

“We’ll talk to him together,” Kaldur insisted. He paused though when he saw the look in Robin’s eyes and he backed down immediately. “I understand, you will do this on your own.”

“Good, I’ll see you guys later.” With that the Boy Wonder disappeared further into the cave.

“Why did you say that?” Conner’s voice was sharp as he turned to Kaldur.

“Robin needs to do this and I believe he’s the only one who could get Wally to talk,” Kaldur’s quiet tone helped to calm Conner’s emotions. “But when Wally is ready, we will all be there to help him.”

Robin made his way through down the hall to where the bedrooms were. Not bothering with politeness, he opened the door a crack and peeked in. Wally was lying in bed, holding what looked to be his goggles, though they were mangled almost beyond recognition. Robin wasn’t surprised to see them in that state. He had just listened to the conversation that had led up to the destruction of the goggles and subsequently his bug. What he didn’t understand was the way Wally fondly touched the frames and the sadness in normally bright eyes.

The younger teen entered the room and shut the door firmly behind him. He sat down on the side of the bed and took the frames from Wally, inspecting them from behind his sunglasses. He took note that any remains of the recording device he left in it were gone. 

“I’ll fix your goggles this weekend, it won’t be hard. Actually, I’ll make them better,” Robin stated. “I have high impact glass that will work out nicely.”

A weak smile tugged on Wally’s lips. “Thanks, man. I accidently sat on them earlier, pretty stupid, huh?”

The excuse sounded lame to both of them. Robin kicked off of his shoes and stretched out on the bed next to his friend, he might as well be comfortable for this conversation. 

“Or someone took them from you and stomped on them.”

“Or that,” Wally quietly admitted after a long pause, not bothering to lie at that point.

“Tell me.”

“Your bug was in my goggles, you tell me.” Wally’s voice rose in a mixture of anger and frustration.

“I heard the recordings, but it doesn’t make me understand what’s going on.” He didn’t want to show his hand and tell Wally how little he knew, but he knew he could bluff his way through the conversation. Robin turned to his side to face the speedster, who was gazing up at the ceiling. His hand found Wally’s and he squeezed. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“He, my dad, he’s just strict,” Wally explained as he sat up in the bed, hoping that Robin would understand it the way he did. The older teen had rehearsed it to himself many times that day, but now that the conversation was happening his mind went blank. “He’s just, he’s strict. My parents aren’t happy about me being Kid Flash, it’s weird and they don’t like it. My dad’s just …” He didn’t know what to say, he never had to explain it before, so Wally fell on the line he often told himself, “My dad just likes things a certain way. He isn’t abusing me.”

It hurt to hear the words and not even thinking to filter his words, Robin blurted out, “God, Wally, how many times did you tell yourself that to make you believe it?” 

Wally’s mouth opened and then closed as the speedster tried to think of something to say back to Robin. He needed to make Robin understand. But he was soon pulled into a tight embrace before he could get the words out.

Wally’s scent, the warmth of his skin, the vibration of his body, the sound of his breathing and the flutter of his heart filled Dick’s senses as he held the older boy tightly. They still needed to talk, he needed to know what was so terribly wrong in the West household, but they would get that later. He just wanted to concentrate on the vulnerable teen in his arms and the way Wally felt against his smaller body.

Robin knew that everything wasn’t alright, but Dick Grayson strongly believed that he could make it right. He would protect Wally.

 

Part 6

It was all coming apart at the seams. The carefully crafted world that Wally had created for himself outside of his parents’ house was coming apart. That was how Wally dealt with it, his father’s control over him and his mother’s fear and growing indifference, by creating a different world. A world where Wally was a hero, he saved people’s lives and stopped the bad guys, and people adored him for his powers. A world where there were people like him, people who were special in different ways and liked Wally for who he was, they were his friends and mentors, who not only accepted Kid Flash, but Wally West too.

Though now those worlds were bleeding together. The world where he wasn’t even a person and the world where he was a hero were becoming one.

Robin knew, he knew something at least, and now Wally just had to make him understand somehow. Make him understand and convince him to never tell anyone. Because who knows what the team would think of him then? What would they think if they knew his own parents didn’t love him? How could they respect someone like that?

“Tell me,” Robin said again. His thin, yet strong, arms were still around Wally, holding him close enough that Wally could feel the steady beat of his heart in contrast to his own racing heart. 

“I told you. He’s just strict.” It sounded hollow even to Wally.

Robin pulled back a little so he could touch his forehead to Wally’s. Their faces were so close the speedster could see his reflection in Robin’s sunglasses, but he couldn’t see beyond the barrier between them.

“Please.”

“It’s nothing. It isn’t the best times at home, but they’re … they’re my parents. They’re just doing what they think is best. It’s not a big deal, I still get to run around and be Kid Flash,” he grinned as he gained more confidence in the tale he wove. “I mean, it’s hard on them, their once normal kid has superpowers and is the Flash’s partner. My mom worried about me and my future and my dad just deals with it by being strict and sometimes he says things he doesn’t mean. He apologizes once he realizes what he said and we have one of those father-son moments.”

Lying to his best friend shouldn’t have been easy, yet it rolled off of his tongue and it came so naturally. Unfortunately, his best friend was trained by Batman and for some reason that meant being a living lie detector, Robin did not look convinced. And it made Wally wonder just how much Robin had heard, how long he was listening in on the West residence.

Wally felt cold when Robin let go of him and he thought that the younger teen was going to leave, fed up with the speedster. But Robin didn’t move from the bed. Instead, the Boy Wonder’s hand reached up to his own face, brushing against the frames of the sunglasses.

“No more secrets, Wally,” Robin whispered before sliding the glasses off his face and he stared at Wally with naked blue eyes.

Wally’s heart fluttered in an unexpected way at the sight of blue, so very blue, eyes. The unobstructed youthful face in front of him was familiar, like he had seen it before. Then it clicked and Wally understood why his friend kept his identity a secret even from the team.

“My name is Richard Grayson, everyone calls me Dick though. I was an acrobat in a circus and I performed with my parents. Then they were murdered in front of me during a performance. Bruce Wayne was at the circus that night and took me in as his ward,” Robin explained needlessly. Everyone knew the story of the orphan Bruce Wayne took in.

“Oh god, Rob …”

“Now tell me.”

“Tell you what?!” Wally snapped, he didn’t know what Robin wanted anymore. “I don’t know even know what you want me to tell you! I told you everything.”

“I heard your dad call you a ‘thing’ from the bug! Conner heard it too the night we were at your house, but it was so horrible we thought he misheard, but he didn’t, did he? I also know your dad smashed your goggles! I saw your room, there’s nothing there! I know that your ‘illness’ was from you not eating, I heard the Flash talking to Batman about it. And your mom is obsessed with you being normal. There’s something very wrong going on and I need you to trust me like I trust you,” Dick pleaded, becoming desperate.

Maybe it was the tone of Dick’s voice or the hurt and confusion in his eyes, it was something, and whatever it was it made something deep down in Wally snap.

“You can’t tell anyone, you can never tell anyone, please, never ever in a million years. No one. Not Batman, not the Flash, not the team, not even to your parents’ graves. You can never repeat this. Not a single word of it. Ever. If you do, I’ll … I’ll …” Wally was shaking and his eyes burned so badly that he could barely hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

“Wally …” Dick couldn’t make that promise.

But Wally didn’t wait for Dick’s answer and he plowed on. “They hate me. They hate me so much,” he blurted out loud for the first time in his life. “My dad especially. He’s never liked me, I was always a smartass, always getting into trouble when I was little, he was always yelling at me, but it became so much worse when I became Kid Flash. I was different and he hated it so much that he stopped calling me by my name. At first he just called me boy or son, but then he just started calling me thing or freak.”

Wally paused to take in a labored breath and kept his eyes focused on the bright red blanket on his bed. “Then he said that things, that freaks, weren’t people. He threw out all my stuff, or at least anything I didn’t keep at my aunt’s house. I couldn’t have people over anymore, I couldn’t go out, I couldn’t do any school activities and soon the kids at school stopped being my friends because they thought I had gotten too weird. There are even rooms in the house I can’t go into anymore, I can’t go into the living room, I’m not allowed to touch the carpet. I can only go to school, visit my aunt and uncle or go out with the Flash, just to keep up appearances.” 

He took a moment to scrub his eyes with his sleeve before continuing. “When my dad realized that I need to eat more, because of my metabolism, he started withholding food from me. God, for over a month he had the refrigerator and the pantry locked up just to keep me out of them until I learned not to go into them without permission. If I do anything wrong, if I don’t do well in school or come home late or anything, he won’t let me eat. It was so scary the first time I passed out from it, I thought I was going to die, I hit the floor in the kitchen and my mom just left me there.”

“What about the Flash, your Uncle Barry?” Dick asked faintly, becoming physically uncomfortable from what he was hearing, but he had to hear it. He had to hear it, because there was no one else Wally would talk to.

“He doesn’t know, he has no idea, or my Aunt Iris. My dad is so nice when they’re around, when anyone else is around. I … I once tried to convince my dad to let me live with them, but he got so mad at me. He said that I was a thing and I belonged to him, that I wasn’t going anywhere.”

“And your mom?” He had to know, even though he dreaded the answer.

“She’s been scared of me ever since my second grade teacher told her I was a science prodigy,” Wally sounded defeated. “All my mom ever wanted was a normal life, a normal family. When I got my super speed she was so scared of me and she became obsessed with trying to make me normal. And when my dad started getting really bad she didn’t do anything, she said I deserved it, she said it was my fault and if I could be normal then everything would be alright. But they don’t hit me, they aren’t abusing me.”

“How is that not abuse?!”

“It’s just not,” Wally whispered. “It’s not abuse, they just don’t love me.” The tears he had been fighting back so hard finally started to fall. “Dick,” he said his friend’s name for the first time, “my parents don’t love me.”

“I love you, we all do,” Dick said and he was holding Wally again in a second, letting the older boy bury his face into his shoulder as he sobbed.

Wally couldn’t stop crying, but it almost felt good to tell someone who cared. He felt oddly empty, lighter even, and he found relief from the pressure of his secrets. For the first time ever he had shared the burden of his home life with someone and Wally probably wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone other than Dick. Dick, who would not judge him, who always had his back, who trusted Wally with his biggest secret, and who would hold and love Wally when his own parents wouldn’t.

He needed to make sure that it would stay between them though. He couldn’t stand the thought of anyone other than Dick knowing.

“Please, please, Dick, don’t tell anyone, you can’t. Don’t tell anyone my parents don’t love me,” the young speedster sobbed.

The sudden bang of something hitting the cave wall and a well-known scream of rage made Wally and Dick jerk apart. Within the blink of an eye, Wally sped to the door, cleaning off his face with his sleeve while Dick put his sunglasses back on, becoming Robin again. When Wally opened the door to his room, he found the team camped outside in the hallway, everyone, Kaldur, Megan, Conner and Artemis. While most of them just looked concerned and confused, Conner was livid.

Conner had heard everything.

“Conner, please, don’t say anything,” Wally begged. 

Superboy didn’t reply, instead he grabbed Wally and held him close, firmly, but careful not to crush him. Wally returned the embrace, holding onto Conner like a lifeline, shaking and crying against Superboy’s solid form. Even though she didn’t know what was going on, Megan joined in, hugging Wally from behind, trapping him between his two teammates. Kaldur and Artemis didn’t join in the group hug, but they stood close to their teammates. Kaldur gently gripped Wally’s upper arm and spoke softly to the crying speedster, and Artemis held onto one of Wally’s hands that was clutching Conner’s shirt.

Dick watched from the doorway of Wally’s room before taking a step back inside the room. He reached into his pocket for his communicator that would patch him in directly to his mentor.

“Batman, I need your help. I’m officially whelmed.”

 

Interlude 2 – Before They Told the Flash

Dick felt sick from repeating what Wally had told him. His stomach turned, his palms were sweaty and his chest ached from telling Batman the terrible things Wally had been through as they sat in the privacy of a closed conference room at Mount Justice. He had hesitated about the part when he told Wally his identity, and Conner probably knew too, depending on how long he was standing outside the door, but Batman didn’t even flinch at that. Instead, Batman remained silent, listening to every word Dick said and to the audio file he had of the brief conversation between Wally and his dad. As Dick continued and as Batman remained silent, he began to panic that maybe Batman didn’t believe him and he wondered if Wally often despaired that no one could believe such horrible things. Maybe that was why Wally never said anything before.

“What will happen now?” Dick asked. “We can’t let him stay there.”

Batman didn’t answer right away and when he did he placed a heavy hand on Dick’s shoulder and said, “You take care of him. I will tell the Flash and we will come up with a plan of where to place Kid Flash.”

“Place him?” Dick echoed. “What do you mean by that? He’s going to stay with the Flash, right?”

“Don’t worry about that now. Concentrate on Wally. Things will only get harder before they get any better.”

There was a sinking feeling in Dick’s stomach, but he decided not to pursue that issue at the moment. He asked, “How does this happen? How do we not notice something like this?”

“You did notice something and you followed your instincts,” Batman answered. “You’re a good investigator, Dick.”

He couldn’t help but flush at the compliment. However, the sudden pleasure of the compliment disappeared as quickly as it came when Dick remembered the complete hopelessness in his best friend’s eyes when he admitted to Dick that his own parents didn’t love him. It only reinforced his determination to make things right and to make sure that he never saw that look in Wally’s eyes ever again.

“When are you going to tell the Flash?” 

“Tomorrow, I want to run my own background check on Rudolph West, and Wally could use the rest before Barry finds out.”

Dick nodded in agreement. While it was only seven o’clock in the evening, Wally was exhausted. Dick knew the team wanted vengeance and it took all of them to make sure Conner wouldn’t go to Central City, but it would all pale in comparison to how the Flash would react. They could all wait until the morning to deal with Wally’s mentor and uncle.

“Go be with your friend, I need to make some calls.”

“I want to help.” This was his investigation and he wanted to see it through, he wanted to see Wally removed from his parents and justice done for all the suffering the young speedster went through.

“Go be with Wally. You know better than anyone about what he needs.” 

The tone in Batman’s voice told him that the conversation was at an end and Dick would have fought him if he didn’t think that his mentor was right. He needed to focus on Wally for the moment and he could pick up the rest of the investigation later.

“Ok.” Dick left the room, but he didn’t leave the hallway right away. He hung around the door and listened as Batman made a call through his com-link with the Justice League.

“Martian Manhunter,” Batman’s voice was faint through the door as he contacted Megan’s uncle. While Batman managed to keep his tone even when he spoke to Robin, there was now an angry edge to his voice. “I need you to do a full telepathic read on Rudolph West immediately … Yes, I know … This is urgent … J’onn, I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t important …”

Robin made his way to the living room where he heard the soft noise of the TV. The team was watching WALL-E, a secret favorite of the speedster’s, he had a soft spot for the little robot. They were watching it to calm him down, comforting Wally and telling him he didn’t have to talk anymore, that they could hangout like they had planned for that Friday night.

Dick remembered painfully when Wally had asked him to go see the movie with him once, it was before they were on a team together and Kid Flash had made the run to Gotham to deliver a package to Batman from the Flash. Robin had met him in the shadows of the alleyways in Gotham and Kid Flash tried to get him to hangout with him. He had casually suggested they pick up a copy of WALL-E and watch it together. But Robin had brushed him off, he had more important things to do as Batman’s partner, and he was twelve then, and twelve year olds didn’t watch cartoons. Now, he knew Wally was probably trying to avoid going home, and now he wished he had said yes. 

Wally was sprawled out on the couch, his head was resting in Conner’s lap and Megan sat next to Superboy and her green fingers were idly playing with Wally’s hair. The speedster’s long legs were lying over Kaldur’s knees and Artemis on the far end of the couch acted as a footrest.

No one noticed Dick as he peeked in on them, and they did not notice when Dick disappeared back down the hallway towards the workshop in the cave. Wally was in good hands and there was something he had to do.

The Boy Wonder didn’t reemerge from the workshop until late into the night. He rubbed sleepily at his eyes as he walked towards the bedrooms. He paused as he noticed Conner and Kaldur sitting on the floor against the wall outside of Wally’s room, they had both fallen asleep. Kaldur’s head was tipped back while Conner’s had head slumped to the side, leaning on Kaldur’s shoulder with a thin string of saliva coming from the corner of his mouth.

“Wally went to bed,” Megan whispered as she approached Robin. “They decided to guard his door, they’re so protective, after finding out ... Well, Kaldur’s supposed to wake up Artemis in two hours for her shift and Conner said he didn’t need sleep.”

Robin had to grin. “I think Wally will be ok for the night.”

Megan returned his grin. “Me too, I was just about to take them to bed.” She touched her forehead to lift up her sleeping friends with her mind and guided them to their rooms, tucking them in.

Robin went to his own room and was surprised that it was already occupied. Wally was lying in his bed, under the covers and hugging one of the pillows. He set down the project he had been working on in the workshop on the nightstand and got dressed into his pajamas before sliding onto the bed next to his friend. Immediately Wally let go of the pillow and snuggled up to Dick.

“It’s cold in here,” Wally complained as he pressed his cold feet against Dick’s warm ones, making the younger boy squirm.

“You could’ve turned on the heat,” Dick rolled his eyes.

“Thought you’d come sooner.”

“I was working on something.” 

Dick turned his head towards Wally, their noses brushing together. He was alarmed when he saw that tears were in Wally’s eyes.

“Wally?” Dick held onto one of Wally’s hands.

A genuine smile graced Wally’s face as the tears rolled down his cheeks. “I’m ok right now. Thank you, Dick, thank you so much.”

Dick raised an eyebrow and then noticed that Wally’s gaze was fixed on a spot beyond Dick. In the dim light coming from under the door Wally was able to focus on the project Dick had been working on that night.

Sitting on the nightstand, restored to their former glory and carefully polished, were Wally’s goggles.

 

Part 7

“Let go of me, Clark!” The Flash growled as he vibrated in fury. The Man of Steel kept a firm hold of the speedster, knowing that if he let go the Flash would bolt and head straight for Central City. “Don’t make me vibrate through you! Trust me, you don’t want that to happen!”

“I’ll let go of you when you calm down,” Superman replied, shooting a desperate look over at Batman and the Martian Manhunter. 

He now understood why he was called in for this early morning meeting at Mount Justice, even though he tried to avoid Mount Justic as much as he could. In this state of blind anger, he was probably one of the few people on Earth who could stop the Flash. He was afraid that if he let go, the usually good natured Barry Allen would step over the line between outraged uncle to murderer.

They were all alarmed when the hum of the Flash’s vibrations increased and they all knew that he was getting ready to vibrate right out of Superman’s grip.

“Barry, stop,” J’onn said gently. “You risk hurting Superman and I know that you don’t want to do that. You want to help Wally and the only way you can do that is if you stay here and talk to us.”

The Martian’s cool logic seemed to penetrate the angry haze Barry was in as he went limp in Superman’s arms and while he still shook it was from his own grief. A grief over how useless he felt, how useless he was to his nephew after all these years of abuse that he never knew about. It took someone else to notice Wally when it should have been him or Iris to see through the lies of the West household and to see the hell that Wally was trapped in. And now all he wanted to do was to punch the smile off of Rudolph West’s face forever and to Mary … He couldn’t bring himself to think that he would hit a woman, without superpowers or committing a violent crime of course, but he wanted to slap Mary across the face for not stopping her husband, for enabling the abuse, for being a part of the abuse. Maybe he would let Iris do that. She would want a piece of her brother and sister-in-law when she found out.

Superman didn’t ease his grip on the Flash, even though he had calmed down, and Barry didn’t blame him. He was unsure if he would take the opportunity to run out and run to the West’s house that he had been in so many times, to run up the porch stairs, to breakdown the door and to tear the place apart.

“I have completed a scan of Rudolph West’s mind and what I found was disturbing,” J’onn’s voice was monotone, but his teammates could see the disgust in his alien eyes. “His anger towards Kid Flash is immense, especially towards his powers. West is in complete control of himself, which is why he is so believable when he lies. To West controlling Kid Flash’s life makes him feel powerful. He thinks of Wally as a possession, one that he will not give up while Wally is a child.”

“You don’t think he’ll let Barry take Wally in?” Superman asked and he regretted the question when he felt the Flash stiffen in his arms.

“He won’t have a choice!” Barry snapped. “There is no way in hell that I’m letting Wally take another step into that house! I will come to him as the Flash if I have to! I will beat it into him!”

“We can’t have the League threatening civilians, no matter how despicable they are,” Superman reminded the Flash, which just made Barry angrier.

“I don’t give a damn about the League! All I care about right now is Wally! We’ll sue for custody if we have to!” Barry started struggling against Superman’s grip again.

“We have no legal course to take,” Batman cut in, his voice sharp. “There are no signs of abuse and Rudolph and Mary West are well respected members of the community.”

“West’s power is so absolute over Kid Flash that I doubt Wally would be able to speak against him, even for his own benefit,” the Martian added.

Batman continued, “And if you could take custody of Wally, Central City is no longer an option for him, not with his parents there.”

“We’ll move then!” Barry all but yelled.

“And leave Central City to your Rogue Gallery?” Batman asked.

“Hey, Fastest Man Alive,” Barry answered sarcastically. “Distance isn’t much for a problem for me.”

“Batman is right,” Superman took the Dark Knight’s side. “Even if you can run to Central City, we all know that in our work every second matters, even for you, Barry.”

Barry went limp again and squeezed his eyes shut as they began to water. “Then what am I supposed to do if I can’t take him in!? What can I do? What can I do to help Wally!?”

“Be there for him,” J’onn counseled. “I don’t have to read his mind to know that he needs his uncle now.”

“Where is he?”

J’onn’s eyes glowed briefly. “In Robin’s room, they’re both sleeping.”

“Let me go, I want to see him,” Barry whispered. “I won’t go anywhere else, I just need to see him.”

Superman looked over at the Martian Manhunter, who nodded. J’onn knew that Barry wasn’t a risk at the moment. The Flash was gone before any of them could blink once Superman loosened his grip. J’onn confirmed that he had indeed gone to seek out Wally.

“If Kid Flash can’t stay in Central City, then where are we going to place him? Here?” Superman questioned after Barry had gone.

“No, Kid Flash has been controlled all his life, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself with so much freedom even under Red Tornado’s guidance,” J’onn answered. “We would be setting him up to self destruct by doing that, he needs structure just as much as he needs freedom. We will need someone preferably from the League to take him in.”

“It’s important we make Wally disappear, somewhere his father won’t find him,” Batman said.

“And what? We just let his parents get away with this?” Superman crossed his arms.

Batman’s eyes narrowed and his hands clenched, making Superman remember why criminals confessed their sins to the Dark Knight on a regular basis. The look on Batman’s face was one usually reserved for the worst of criminals, who lurked in the darkness to prey on the innocent, and now it was reserved for Rudolph and Mary West.

“I never said that.”

-

Further into the cave Mount Justice, the Flash zipped through the halls and straight to the room Robin kept. He stopped outside the door, suddenly nervous to see his nephew. There was a possibility that Wally hated him, hated him for not knowing, because how does someone not know when their nephew was being psychologically tortured for years?

But the Flash was a hero and heroes were brave, not cowardly like Barry Allen. So he opened the door and moved towards the bed where the two teens were still asleep. Their legs were tangled together, their arms were wrapped around each other and Wally’s head was tucked under Robin’s chin, his face buried into the younger teen’s neck.

The Flash sat down next to Wally and he slipped off his cowl so there was only Barry Allen. He reached over and stroked bright red hair, causing Wally to stir, but both teens remained asleep.

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t solve Wally’s problems in his lab or by running fast. He couldn’t be the Flash at that moment, he had to be Barry Allen. Barry Allen had to be the hero and even if he couldn’t take Wally home with him, he would do everything in his power to make sure Wally was safe and happy.

Because that was all that mattered.

He just hoped being Barry Allen was enough to save Wally.

 

Part 8

When Wally woke up it took him a moment to realize that he wasn’t alone in bed, actually he wasn’t even in his own room, he was in Robin’s and it was Dick who was lying next to him. Robin’s body was oddly comfortable and he snuggled in closer to the younger boy, trying to steal every last bit of warmth from his friend so he could fall back asleep. Wally closed his eyes again, not wanting to untangle himself from his friend. Dick mumbled something, shifting to throw a leg over Wally’s and he buried his hand into messy red hair.

There was suddenly a snicker and then a, “Aw, you two are so cute together!”

Wally and Dick opened their eyes and saw Barry Allen sitting on the edge of the bed, grinning at them. Wally was blushing brightly as Dick dove for his sunglasses, fumbling as he put them on.

“Uncle Barry! We were, you know, just … I couldn’t sleep and …” Wally couldn’t get rid of the blush on his face, embarrassed to be caught in such an intimate position with his friend.

“No need to explain, I just like to tease you,” Barry ruffled Wally’s hair. 

“Oh. Um, what are you doing here?” 

Barry’s smile faded. “Batman called me and we met this morning.”

“You know.” The words came out in a hushed, terrified voice, unlike Wally’s usually loud and cheerful self.

“I’m so sorry,” Barry apologized. It took everything in him not to cry right then and there. “I’m sorry I never knew, I never noticed.”

“You have nothing to be sorry about! It wasn’t … There’s nothing wrong!”

“We talked about this! It’s still abuse!” Dick jumped in, his arms wrapping around Wally’s waist from behind. When Wally remained silent, Dick looked over at Barry. “I think he needs to hear it from you. I’ll be outside.”

Robin gave Wally one more squeeze before sliding off the bed and left the room, leaving nephew and uncle alone.

Wally tried to put on a brave face. “I’m fine, really.”

Barry pulled Wally into a hug, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Wally wasn’t fine, the older speedster didn’t even know if his nephew was ever just fine. How could someone escape the torment that Wally had been through? Even when he was outside of the house Barry knew it had to follow the boy. The scars that no one could see were deep.

“Your parents are monsters and what they’re doing is abuse. They’re wrong, they’re wrong about you. They’ve taken everything great about you and made it seem like a bad thing. But you’re perfect the way you are,” Barry said, unknowingly echoing his wife’s words to their nephew from only days ago. “I love you, your Aunt Iris loves you and we’re going to make this right.”

-

Apparently making things right involved meeting with some of the big members of the Justice League, who knew about the situation. Wally dragged his feet as his uncle led him to the conference room at Mount Justice, which was now quickly becoming the ‘Bad News About Wally Room.’ He had failed to convince Dick and his uncle that everything was fine and to leave it alone, so he highly doubted he could convince Batman otherwise. He sat down in the large room, feeling small as Superman, Batman and the Martian Manhunter stood, telling him what they knew and what was going to happen.

They wanted to take Wally away from his parents.

This was supposed to be good news and everyone thought it was except for Wally. He soon found himself hunched forward as he tried to breathe in order to control his anxiety attack. Mount Justice seemed too small all of a sudden and Wally needed to get away from everyone and run across to the middle of the country where it was flat and the sky was endless. But that urge was anchored by his uncle’s arm around him, rubbing his back and encouraging him to breathe and saying that he would be ok, that he was there for him and everything would be alright.

Nothing was alright though. Everyone knew. They knew about his parents, how much they hated him, that Wally West couldn’t even make his own parents love him. And now everyone was saying that he never had to see them again, they were going to move Wally away from his parents and take him from the world he had become accustomed to.

The uncertainty and the general lack of not knowing anything about his future was killing him, they didn’t even know who he would go live with since apparently his Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were not an option. It hurt to see the devastated look on his uncle’s face when he and Batman told him that. He would have been overjoyed to go live with his aunt and uncle, but he understood that wasn’t possible, not with his father so close and the need for the Flash in Central City. Not knowing who would become his new guardian worried Wally greatly.

The Martian Manhunter said that they hoped to place Wally with someone from the Justice League and they were compiling a list of people who might be able to take him in. Placed. Placed was the word they kept saying, placed like Wally placed his souvenirs on the shelf in the trophy room. He was to be given to whoever could afford to take him.

And what about his parents? His father would know that he told and that he went against his father’s words and spoke of their home life. Maybe if he explained that he didn’t mean to, that he was tricked, then his father wouldn’t punish him too much. But Wally didn’t have to go back now, he didn’t have to know how his father would punish him, he didn’t have to hear his mother tell him this was his fault.

That was what made Wally panic and sent him into a full blown anxiety attack.

As much as he suffocated under the pressure of his father’s control and starved for his mother’s acceptance, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to live without it. He hated to admit it, but when he went home he knew his place, he knew what to do which was basically everything his dad told him to do. At Mount Justice Kid Flash knew his place, he was the one who talked back, flirted, and ran really fast. He had control over that aspect of his life while his father controlled the rest of it, and he really didn’t know what to do with himself without it.

It was ingrained into him. It was who he was, a thing, a freak, something to be controlled. Even though he knew the environment he lived in was toxic, it was all he knew.

He sat up as his breathing evened out and Barry pulled him closer, whispering that everything was going to be ok. But it wasn’t, they were going to take him away from his parents and send him to live with someone else.

If his parents didn’t love him, then how could some random member of the Justice League?

 

Part 9

The decision had been made that Wally was to stay at Mount Justice until a new guardian could be found. He was not to go back to Central City and anything he needed from his house would be retrieved by someone else. Wally wasn’t worried about the clothes and textbooks sitting in his bare room, instead he was worried about making it back home by Sunday night. In his mind he was still going back, because while his dad would tolerate him going missing for the weekend, if he wasn’t back by Sunday night there was hell to pay. He had already skipped school on Friday, so coming home late was not an option. Who knows how many meals his father would withhold from him? Maybe he’d be banned from another room in the house. Or maybe his father would restrict his activities as Kid Flash.

“No!” He begged. “No, I have to go back, he’ll know! He’ll know that I told. Don’t send me away, don’t. Please, I’ll be good. Please, please, don’t.”

“That isn’t an option, kiddo.” Barry told the boy, slinging an arm around him as his concern grew. “We can’t let you go back, you’re not safe there. This is for the best, you’ll stay here for now and soon we’ll place you with a member of the Justice League. Don’t worry, wherever you end up I’m going to be there for you. Whenever you need me, just call and I’ll be there in a flash. Pun intended.”

That got a weak laugh from Wally.

“We will take care of the rest,” Batman told him. “You will go somewhere safe.”

“And you’ll be safe from your father,” Superman added.

Wally slumped in his seat. They weren’t listening to him.

Barry tightened his grasp on his nephew before reluctantly letting him go. “Go be with your friends, I think they’re getting tired of waiting outside and having Superboy telling them what’s going on.”

They could hear murmurings from outside the door, the team obviously knowing that they had been caught eavesdropping, but they were unapologetic about it. Wally was their teammate and they felt they deserved to know what was going on with him more so than the Justice League.

When Wally stepped out of the room, he was soon bombarded by his friends and pulled towards the kitchen. Apparently Megan had been busy making him lunch, ever since she heard that his father had deprived him of food all Megan wanted to do was to feed Wally. Not that he had much of a problem with that. She had already made him a large dinner the night before and now she had made an equally large lunch for him that he dove into with enthusiasm. 

No one looked at him with disgust as he shoved the food into his mouth, complained when he talked with his mouth full or commented when he got crumbs everywhere. They all just smiled, tried to joke a little, made sure he had enough to eat and cleaned up after him, not even asking him to put the dishes in the sink.

Something felt off.

“Thanks, Megan, not only are you beautiful, but you’re also talented,” Wally flirted and gave Megan a large grin.

Megan smiled. “Thank you, Wally, I’m happy to cook for you.”

There were no cringes at his cheesy pickup line or his shameless flirting with Megan, Artemis didn’t even try to discourage him or roll her eyes as she usually did.

“Hey, Kaldur! Let’s hit the training room! There’s a few new moves that Black Canary taught me that I want to try out.”

Kaldur looked uneasy. “Perhaps another time.”

Wally frowned briefly. He turned to Superboy, “Supey, what about you? I bet I can knock you down at least once.”

Conner turned his face away with a guilty expression.

“Artemis? Megan? The three of us? Training? It’ll be fun,” Wally wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, though the flirting was only half hearted.

“Perhaps we should hold off training until things have settled down,” Kaldur suggested. “We should concentrate on helping you before we think of things like training and missions.”

“Hey, we can’t stop training just because there’s a little issue going on with me,” Wally insisted, trying to downplay the situation. He needed the distraction and training would be a good way to blow off some steam. “We need to stay sharp, who knows when Batman will have a new mission for us?”

Kaldur hesitated, “Wally, Batman has taken you off active duty until they have figured out where you will be living. We all believe that emotionally you must be sound before going back into the field. I know this must be hard, but this is really for the best.”

There was a distinct pain in Wally’s chest and a prickling sensation of tears in his eyes. He didn’t expect to hear that.

Robin leaned in close, placing a steadying hand on Wally’s back and whispered, “They can’t help it, they just want to protect you.” 

That didn’t make it better. Even the world of where he was accepted as Kid Flash was beginning to fall apart. Wally’s life wasn’t making much sense to him anymore. All aspects of his life were crumbling away, because a week ago he yelled Artemis for teasing him and because he wasn’t in control of himself.

“Wally, you have to understand,” Kaldur stated. “I am sorry, but we are all concerned about you. We don’t want you to get hurt during a mission when your focus is understandably elsewhere. But you are our friend first and teammate second, and we will be here for you, always.”

“I … I understand ... I hope I don’t get rusty while I’m on superhero vacation. It’ll be ok, you guys will be begging for me to come back halfway through the first mission without me.” The grin was forced, but it seemed to be enough to put Kaldur at ease.

This worried Wally though. His team was probably wondering if he could handle the pressure of being in the field, if he could ever be Kid Flash again, because he was different now. What helped to make him Kid Flash, to make him the Wally West they knew, was that he was seen as the most normal sidekick. He was supposed to be the one with the normal life, he lived with his parents and not with someone like Batman, he lived in an average house and not a cave, he wasn’t secretive about his identity, he went to a public school, and he was a human, albeit with super speed. Wally was supposed to be normal to them. Now that image of normalcy was shattered into a million pieces and they would never look at him the same way again.

Just like his mother. 

He was different now. He wasn’t a freak, like he was to his parents, super speed wasn’t a big deal to a group that had a clone, an alien, and a boy who lived underwater. But they thought of him as fragile. A liability. Heroes weren’t liabilities.

If he no longer had at place at home and now no longer had a place as a hero, then where did he belong? It was as his father had said to him countless times, he was nothing.

“I think I’m going to take a nap, it’s been … I just …” Wally didn’t have to finish because of the looks of understanding he received. 

They understood, but they really didn’t.

Hours later, it was Conner who went to check up on Wally. His vision allowed him to see into the room without opening the door. The room was empty. A quick visual sweep of the surrounding bedrooms told him that they were all empty. He ran to find his teammates, to see if anyone knew where Wally was.

Artemis told Conner that she had run into Wally an hour and a half before, he told her he was going to get some fresh air.

Megan told Conner that she saw Wally not long after Artemis did and she fixed him a sandwich to take out with him.

Kaldur told Conner that he had talked to Wally at the back entrance of Mount Justice twenty minutes after the speedster stepped outside. They had talked about racing across the water, Aqualad swimming and Kid Flash running on the surface. After about ten minutes, Wally asked to be alone.

Superboy went outside and found the ledge of the back entrance empty except for the view of the water and Wally’s com-link. 

Conner told Robin everything he knew.

Robin used the main computer terminal to pull up the security camera footage to when Wally and Kaldur were talking, just as Aqualad had described. Not long after Kaldur disappeared back inside the cave Wally stood at the edge of the mountain and took out his com-link, throwing it to the ground. He slipped on his goggles and Robin could hear a quick intake of breath from Connor when Wally suddenly ran down the side of the mountain. In a full sprint, Kid Flash easily ran across the water’s surface and out of the camera’s range in a matter of seconds.

That was an hour ago.

Robin’s mind was working at full speed trying to figure out where his friend might be, but he knew that in an hour Wally could literally be anywhere on Earth.

“Why didn’t I put a tracer in his goggles!?” Robin wailed as he used Mount Justice’s computer to start hacking satellites, hoping to get an image of where Wally was going. “Damn it! I can’t find him!” Robin slammed his hands down on the computer in frustration. “This thing is useless!”

Next to him, Superboy punched the cave wall, leaving a large dent.

“He promised me the moon,” Conner said suddenly.

“What?” Robin blinked, his fingers freezing mid stroke over the keyboard.

“He promised me the moon and he delivered. I promised myself that I would protect him and I failed.” 

“Conner, you can’t …”

“Why can he keep his promises and I can’t?”

 

Part 10

Outside of Star City was a small town that had a shop with the best ice cream Roy Harper had ever tasted. Everything in the shop was homemade, the ice cream, the cones, even the toppings. It was all made with a care and pride that Roy couldn’t find in the city, but he told hardly anyone of his weakness for ice cream made from scratch. Though a couple of years ago he had taken Kid Flash there, not long after the kid had appeared in the crime fighting world. Wally had been so eager to share his secret identity, and Roy removed his mask and told him his first name. He didn’t give out any more details than necessary. 

Even though Wally could be an annoying little brat, Roy found himself attached to him. So when the kid looked rather depressed after he and the Flash helped out in Star City, Roy took him out. Green Arrow vouched for Speedy and said that he was mature enough to take Wally out on his own. He just skipped out on the fact that Roy only had a learning permit at the time and not a full driver’s license. 

But he had taken Wally out and they had fun. The kid wouldn’t tell Roy what was wrong and he didn’t push it. He settled on being satisfied with the smile on Kid Flash’s face and the, “Oh my god, this is the greatest ice cream ever. How did I live all my life without it?”

Thinking back on that memory and that moment of happiness they both shared, Roy went back to that family owned ice cream shop and wasn’t surprised by what he found.

Wally sat at a table by himself in the corner of the shop, eating his third four scoop brownie sundae covered in hot fudge and extra toppings.

Roy sat down across from Wally, grabbed the spoon from Wally and sunk the utensil down into the sundae to steal a bite. Wally literally growled at Roy.

“Dude, get your own!”

“If you share, I won’t tell everyone where you are,” Roy countered coolly.

Wally’s mouth dropped open and snapped it shut as he pushed the bowl closer to Roy for easier access.

“So they contacted you?” Wally asked.

“Yep,” Roy answered as he stole the cherry off the top of the ice cream and ate it.

“I was saving that!” Wally protested. 

“They told me you were missing. Some bullshit about no one knew your whereabouts and they were just concerned. I listened in on some of their conversations and it sounds a lot more serious than that. Tell Robin he needs to upgrade the security on communications, hacking it was too easy.”

“Oh … So, how did you find me?”

Roy shrugged and admitted, “A lucky guess. If I couldn’t find you here, then I knew I could at least get something to eat.” He took another bite of the ice cream and handed the spoon back to Wally. “Why are you missing?”

“Just am.”

“From what I heard they think you’re hiding in Central City and apparently they think your parents are monsters.”

“Oh.” Wally rubbed the back of his head nervously. Of course they thought he was at Central City, he did stop by his aunt’s house before leaving for Star City. Now he was feeling a little bad for confusing and worrying his aunt when he saw her.

That was after he had visited home. He showed up at the front porch, streaked with dust from his run and he did his best to beat the dirt out his clothes and grabbed his house key. Then he thought better, if he trailed dirt through the house … Well, he didn’t want to think about that. Going around the side of the house, he saw that his window was still open and he ran up the side of the house and into his room.

Wally winced as he remembered what had happened up in his room.

His mother was sitting on his bed, looking through a shoebox of photos that was usually stashed in his closet. He should have known that nothing in that house could remain a secret, that nothing there that was his.

“Mom?”

There was a real smile on her face as she looked through the photos. They were from when he was younger, during better times.

“Sweetie!” She was genuinely happy to see him and patted the spot next to her. “Come sit with me.”

Wally sat down next to her. She was looking at old pictures of vacations and family trips, when they would all smile for real every once in awhile.

“Look at these old photos, I had forgotten all about our trip to Metropolis, you were only seven. All you wanted was to meet Superman and do you remember? And we saw him!” His mother reflected and her joy lit up her face in a way that Wally could hardly recall from his childhood. “He was up too high and you wanted a closer look, but then I bought you that Superman doll and you were never happier.”

She held up a picture of him in front of a statue of Superman in Metropolis, a young Wally was squeezing an oversized Superman doll and a large grin was on his face. The memory made Wally smile, remembering the way his tiny arms wrapped around the large Superman toy and the feel of the soft material against his face as he hugged it to his small body. 

“Yeah, Mom, I remember. That was a great trip. I loved that Superman doll.”

His mother laughed and the sound lifted Wally’s spirits. “I know! You refused to go to bed without.”

“And you had to read my Green Lantern storybook.”

“How could I forget? I had that book memorized, but so did you. You would know if I skipped over a part.” Mary West laughed again and wiped at her eyes, asking, “Whatever happened to that doll?”

The smile slipped from Wally’s lips. “Dad took it when he took away the rest of my stuff.”

“Oh …” Mary West put down the picture she held. Then, with violence he had never seen before in his mother, she threw the box of photos against the wall, her hands shaking.

“Mom! Are you ok?” He reached out to her and she flinched away from him. She had never done that before.

“You’re not my little boy,” she whispered, burying her face into her hands.

“Mom, I’m not little anymore, but I’m still your son.” He reached for her again, hoping to comfort her, but this time her reaction was much more extreme.

“No! Don’t touch me!” She shoved him hard enough to knock him off the bed and to the floor. “You’re not my son! My son is a sweet little boy! My son needs me! My son isn’t some smart mouthed, know it all, freak of nature! You’re nothing to me! You’re nothing!”

He sat there, stunned, and before he knew it he was on his feet again and he was running. He didn’t stop until he was at his aunt’s house and he threw his arms around her, startling Iris. She was happy to see him, if not confused, and she tried to make him stay, but he couldn’t. Central City seemed too small, the buildings and even the sky seemed like it was closing in on him and he had to leave or risk being crushed.

He ran again, ending up outside of Star City. And now he was sitting in an ice cream shop with Red Arrow. Stranger things had happened to him.

Roy leaned back in his seat and shrugged. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but I have a little bit of an idea. Do you need a place to stay while you’re missing?”

Wally looked at Roy like he had grown two heads. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Wally had been to Roy’s apartment before, not long after Speedy split from Green Arrow and before he officially became Red Arrow. It was a small one bedroom apartment, but Roy seemed to be doing well enough on his own and Wally used to envy Roy so much for his freedom. Now he was terrified of it. He didn’t know how to act now that his secrets had been exposed as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the apartment, not knowing what his friend thought of him even though he didn’t know the full story.

A soda was thrown at Wally’s head and he caught it without thinking.

“You look stupid standing there,” Roy was as gentle as ever and Wally was thankful for it. “Let’s watch some TV.”

Perhaps that’s why he ran towards Star City. He was running aimlessly before, but then he got hungry and ice cream sounded good. He remembered the place Roy had taken him and he remembered Roy. Roy didn’t bother to try to make people feel better, he spoke his mind and what was on his mind usually wasn’t pleasant, but it was honest. Wally understood that his teammates were concerned, but he couldn’t stand their behavior and that things had changed.

“You don’t have to tell me,” the older teen said as they settled on the couch and he turned on the TV. “I eventually want to know though, because I’m sure that half the Justice League is going to converge on my apartment any day now and everyone is going to chew me out about not contacting the League when I found you.”

“I know and thanks,” Wally replied, opening his soda and took a long drink. “Later, I’ll tell you later. I just need you to treat me like me.”

Roy snorted. “How else would I treat you?”

“Like I’m going to break, like I’m different now.” Wally thought about his friends and his chest felt tight.

“As I said, I don’t know what’s going on, but I can tell that everyone is pretty damn worried about you. It happens. People worry about you because they care, and you would worry too if anything happened to the people you love. Whatever is going on will pass and people will get over it, you’ll get over it. Soon you’ll be back to your annoying self and begging me to join your little justice playgroup every time we hangout.”

Wally laughed and felt relief, the tension in his body melted away and he could breathe. “Roy, you sure do know how to make someone feel better.”

“Yeah, well, it’s all about my charming personality.” The older teen stretched his legs out and propped them up on the coffee table, shifting his gaze over to Wally, who was playing with his goggles. “Are you going to come on patrol with me tonight? Or am I going to have to leave you with an emergency number to contact me in case you get scared being alone in the apartment?”

“I don’t really have my suit with me, just the goggles,” Wally held them up.

“I’ve got stuff you can wear.” His elbow found Wally’s ribs as he teased the younger boy, “You’ll be my very own sidekick. What should we call you? Kid Arrow? Goggle Boy?”

“Shove it, Speedy.”

Wally soon found himself digging through the some of the discarded prototypes for Red Arrow’s new uniform in Roy’s closet. Once he found one he liked, he stripped it of its bulkier features. They used their combined sewing skills to take it in to fit his lean form better; sewing was an unknown essential skill for heroes. Wally refused an offered mask and used his goggles to cover his face. Roy came up with a lot of stupid new names for him, but he kept his own, he was still Kid Flash.

Going on patrol was oddly fun. They didn’t stop any major crimes, only a few muggings and attempted robberies, but for the most part they ran around the city, stretching their legs. This was what he needed. A little slice of what life was like before everything about him was put on exhibition for everyone to see, to judge, to pity him.

He could tell that Roy’s behavior changed around him, but it was subtle. There were more glances than usual towards him and he allowed Wally to crawl into bed with him after they had scouted Star City. Roy wasn’t all hugs and cuddling like Dick was, but a leg pressed against his own and the brush of shoulders let Wally know that the other teen was there for him.

Wally fell asleep not long after his head hit the pillow. His subconscious was restless though and it warped together the darkness of Wally’s fears and realities into nightmares. Dark figures chased him down twisted hallways as he ran, desperately clinging onto the broken form of Robin, but he was too slow. He tripped and the figures were upon them, attacking him as he shielded Robin with his own body. The figures were whispering, reminding him that he wasn’t a real person, that he was an abomination, but all he could think about was that he had to save Robin.

His eyes snapped open when a strong arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him against an equally strong chest in an attempt to comfort him and chase away the nightmares.

Roy frowned as he pressed his face into Wally’s hair and grumbled, “God help you if you tell anyone about this.”

 

Part 11

Robin jerked as a hand settled on his shoulder.

He looked up and saw Batman standing over him from where Robin was crouched on the rooftop of a restaurant across the street from an empty park in one of the nicer parts of Gotham. He had spent most of the day running around Central City, but returned to Gotham when nothing turned up. Even though he was home, he couldn’t stop looking and maybe, just maybe, Kid Flash might have come to Gotham.

“I thought he might come here, waiting for me,” Robin explained. “We meet here sometimes before going on patrol together or before we hangout. KF likes this place.”

“You’ve been running yourself ragged for the last two days, you need to come home.”

Robin shook his head. Two days and he still didn’t know where Wally was, it was unacceptable. “Why did he leave? Weren’t we helping him?”

Batman crouched next to his partner. “We did what we thought was right, but in our haste to help him we’ve only made things worse.”

“We screw up and now he’s gone and we don’t know where he is,” Robin lamented. He waited for Batman to reply, but the man remained silent and Robin immediately knew what that meant and was annoyed. “You totally know where he is.”

“He’s safe,” Batman confirmed. “He just needs space and time.”

“You aren’t telling me where he is, are you?”

A small smirk appeared on Batman’s lips. “If the Flash couldn’t get it out of me under threat of vibrating my molecules until I exploded, then no.”

Robin frowned. “I’m not going to stop looking for him. I’m going to make things right, I promised myself and him that I would. KF keeps his promises, so will I, we all will.”

Robin could imagine Bruce lifting an eyebrow from under the cowl from the look Batman gave him.

“Something Superboy said to me, it got to me. I need to follow through with this.”

“Either way, you need to come home. You can continue your search from the Batcave in the morning.”

It was a relief that Batman wasn’t discouraging his search, even if Batman thought Wally needed space, Robin still needed to see him. He had to see with his own eyes that Wally was ok, he was too invested to take anyone’s word for it, even Batman’s. Robin was about to protest going home, but his stomach growled loudly. He had to admit that coming home to some of Alfred’s cooking was sounding better and better by the minute. 

“Ok, yeah, I’ll come home soon.”

After he arrived home, ate a warm dinner and took a hot shower, Dick Grayson continued his search. Sitting in his room, wrapped in a bathrobe, slippers on his feet and with a cup of hot cocoa from Alfred in his hand, Dick used his computer to check on the status of Wally’s phone records and hacked satellite images to see if they had caught Wally running anywhere. There was nothing.

Dick’s eyes wandered to a photo of him and Wally from a year ago. They were in their civvies outside the Hall of Justice, Dick was smirking and there was a large grin on Wally’s face as he slung his arm around the shorter boy. It had been Wally’s birthday and he convinced Dick to go with him. While they were there some tourists offered to take their picture with Wally’s camera and the boy jumped at the opportunity. Wally gave him a framed copy and Wally’s copy was sitting in his room at his aunt and uncle’s house, where it was safe.

Normally Dick had the photo tucked away where no one would see it, but ever since he noticed something was off with his friend just a little over a week ago he left it out on his desk where he could see it. To remind him that what he was doing was important. 

Dick stared at the photo and sighed. “Where are you, Wally? Who are you with?”

-

In Star City Kid Flash vibrated with excitement as he dodged the knife that was meant for his face and his fist was a blur as he hit the man, sending him stumbling back. The man tried to make a charge at Kid Flash with his knife again once he recovered, but a net from one of Red Arrow’s trick arrows subdued the man. Red Arrow was standing over the thug, his boot pressing down on his chest and an arrow drawn back in his bow pointed at the man’s face.

“Where is your boss?” Red Arrow demanded. This guy was a small fish and what Red Arrow really wanted was the much more powerful boss of the smuggling ring. 

“Like I’m going to tell you, Arrow Boy!” The man spat.

“I wouldn’t make him mad,” Kid Flash said in a singsong voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll try to stop that arrow from killing you, but I’m not the Fastest Man Alive you know.”

“Tell me where your boss is,” Red Arrow repeated.

The thug sweated and looked over at Kid Flash, who was rocking back and forth on his heels. “Aren’t you going to stop him!?”

Kid Flash shrugged. “I’ll get around to it. Your arms must be getting tired, Red Arrow.”

“Don’t worry about me, Kid, I don’t plan on holding it much longer.”

“My boss left for Gotham two days ago! That’s all I know, I swear! Please don’t kill me!”

The arrow embedded itself into the cement inches away from the man’s head. Red Arrow spared Kid Flash a sideways glance. “I guess I’ll have to ask Batman for a favor.”

Kid Flash chuckled and wagged his finger at the thug, “See, that wasn’t so hard. Hey Red Arrow, lets hang him upside down over the police station!”

Kid Flash was disappointed when they didn’t hang the thug upside down over the police station, but he was put away all the same. Overall, it had been a good night, they ran around on patrol and followed leads Red Arrow had on some of his active cases. It was a rush that Kid Flash needed, to be the hero, to pour his energy into helping his friend and ignore his crumbling world.

During the day he had a lot of time to think. He still felt the urge to go home, because by now his father must’ve been in an absolute rage and would only get angrier. Sunday night had come and gone and Wally had yet to return to Central City. It was now Monday night and during the day Wally had lain on Roy’s couch, thinking of the ways his dad would punish him for not coming home and how much worse it would get the longer he waited. Then Roy came by, annoyed with Wally’s moping and told him to help him with some of his chemical based trick arrows. The project helped to occupy his mind and the night was reserved for suiting up and hitting the streets.

When they got back to Roy’s apartment they both knew someone had been there. The lights were on, the pizza boxes and empty soda cans were missing, the dishes were done and a sack of groceries sat on the breakfast bar. Wally was instantly on guard, but Roy seemed more exasperated than anything else.

“I didn’t think you’d be the one who’d come,” Roy said as he stepped into the living room where a woman was sitting on the couch, reading a book as she waited for them.

“It’s because everyone figured you would contact them if you found Wally like you said you would. I knew better.”

“Black Canary?” Wally squeaked.

The beautiful fighter set aside her reading material, stood up and walked towards the two teens. “You need to keep better care of your place and yourself, Roy.”

Roy crossed his arms and ignored her statement as he made a deliberate move to place himself between Black Canary and Wally. “I assume you’re here to take Wally back.”

Wally’s eyes darted back and forth from Roy to Black Canary, unsure if he should run again now that he had been located or if he should go back with Black Canary.

“No,” she answered, shocking both teens. “I want to talk to you, Wally, I know what happened, but I’m not going to force you to come back with me, nor will I tell anyone where you are if you don’t want me to. Though I will tell the Flash that I saw you and that you’re fine, it’s the least I can do for him.”

Those sounded like acceptable provisions. Wally nodded, “Ok, let’s talk.”

Roy shrugged. “I’ll let you two talk alone then.” He gave Wally a meaningful look and said, “Let me know if you need anything. Anything.”

“I’ll be ok,” Wally smiled a little and turned his attention back to Black Canary when he heard the click of Roy’s bedroom door closing. Wally was nervous to be alone with Black Canary and he had the sudden urge to explain his childish behavior to his trainer, “Black Canary, I really—”

“Call me Dinah,” she interrupted as she sat back down on the couch, motioning for Wally to join her. He sat down next to her, careful not to get too close and slipped off his goggles. He opened his mouth again to talk, but she interrupted him again. “I’m not here to scold you for running away.”

“What?”

“I’m not happy about it, but I don’t blame you for running,” Dinah replied. “You’ve just had your entire life, your biggest secrets laid out in front of everyone you care about and they expect you to go along with whatever they believe is right. I can’t imagine the shock you’re going through and running away, well … You’ve put this battle on your terms, like I taught you.”

“Here I thought you were going to yell at me for reacting, not acting,” Wally laughed uneasily. “So, uh … Why are you here?”

“I’m here to let you make a decision about your future, because that’s what you deserve most.”

 

Part 12

Wally blinked. A decision? Those were not words he often heard directed at him. But here was Dinah sitting there with him in Roy’s apartment, giving him a choice about his future. He never really thought about his future, because he couldn’t imagine a life beyond crime fighting or beyond the walls of his parents’ house. Perhaps in a dark and twisted way he figured he wouldn’t live long enough to see the age of eighteen, from one way or another, and he wouldn’t have to worry about things like college and freedom.

“I’m offering you a home,” Dinah clarified. “My condo has a guestroom and it can be yours if you want it. I live here in Star City, you’d be close to Roy, and there are some good schools around.”

“A home?” Wally repeated, savoring the word. When Batman, Superman, the Martian Manhunter and even his uncle talked about where he was going to live it was always in the context of where they’d place him, where he’d be safe, nothing about a home.

“There will be rules if you choose to live with me,” Dinah said.

Rules. That was a concept that Wally could clearly understand. They were oppressive, but they provided structure and they told him where his place was.

“School would be your top priority. You’re smart and I know you can pull in good grades, if they’re slipping then I’ll cut down on the time you spend on missions until you improve. You can only be in two extracurricular activities at school at most, I don’t want you overworking yourself between school and your duties as Kid Flash. You would have a curfew, except for missions, but we can negotiate that. I want a call if you plan on running outside of the city and we should always be able to get a hold of each other, but that shouldn’t be a problem with our communicators though. And I expect you to pull your weight when it comes to chores, especially if you’re going to have friends over.”

Wally waited for the other shoe to drop. It didn’t. “Is that all?”

“Yes.”

Laughter bubbled up in him and Wally had to release it. “Those aren’t rules, those are … Those are ... I don’t even know what those are!” he laughed to himself in his own personal joke. When his laughter died down, he sobered up rather quickly as he saw the seriousness in Black Canary’s eyes. “Why? Why would you even offer this?”

“I made a commitment to teach your team the skills to survive and that commitment doesn’t stop when your personal lives become involved. I care about you, Wally, like everyone else.” Dinah gripped Wally’s shoulder. “The League didn’t ask me to do this, I wasn’t even on the list J’onn was making. But I wanted to offer my home to you, I wanted to ask you, not the League.”

“Not much of choice is it?” Wally murmured. “Live with you or let the Justice League put me with someone in their bizarre Adopt a Wally Program.”

“But it’s a choice,” Dinah countered. “It’s more than what the League is offering you right now.”

Wally silently agreed. It wasn’t much of a choice, but it was one nonetheless. He had gained a little ground by putting the battle on his terms. 

“You don’t have to decide now, take your time.” She stood up, ready to leave. “Will you be coming back with me?”

“I think I need to stay here, at least for a little while. Tell the Flash that I’m ok and I miss him and not to worry and … and that I’m sorry. Thanks, for you know, saying that you’d take me in and all that stuff about me having a choice.”

“I’m not just saying that, I want to provide you with a home and I want you to decide for yourself.”

There was an almost pleasant ache in his chest and a lump in his throat that he had to swallow down to say, “Thank you.”

Wally sat on the couch in silence long after Black Canary left. He played with his goggles and thought about what she said and what she offered him. It scared him a little, his mind kept going back to his father and how angry he must’ve been that Wally was missing. The longer Wally was away from that house in Central City, the more anxious he became, making it harder to concentrate on being happy about being away. 

Why was it that he could envy other people for their freedom and their happiness at home, but he never dared to dream of it for himself?

Why did it hurt so much to consider Black Canary’s offer?

He wandered back into Roy’s room, where Roy was working on one of his ongoing cases at his desk. The older boy spared Wally a glance before going back to his work on his laptop.

“What did Black Canary have to say?”

Wally flopped down onto the bed. “She wants me to live with her.”

There was a pause of silence except for the clicking of keys. The clicking finally stopped and Roy turned his chair to face the younger redhead stretched out on top of the covers. “It’s really that bad at your house, huh?”

“No.” The image of his father crushing his goggles and his mother shoving him to the ground went through his mind and he felt nauseous. “Maybe. I’m not being abused, but … They’re my parents and they don’t like …”

“What was your answer?”

“I need to think about it. I need to … I don’t even know if I should leave my parents … Not that the Justice League is giving me much of a choice.” The last words came out more bitter than he intended.

“Wally.”

“Huh?”

“Forget about your parents and the League and everyone else, just think about yourself.”

“Roy …”

“Think about yourself and what’s best for you.”

Wally clutched his head and groaned in frustration. “I’ve never had to do that! You want me to think of myself and Black Canary wants me to make a decision about my future! The only big decision I made was replicating the lab experiment that gave the Flash his powers and I didn’t even think it’d work! I don’t know how to do this!”

The speedster jumped off the bed and started pacing frantically. “I’ve never had to do this before! I’ve had every major decision in my life made for me! Now I’m supposed to make decisions? I don’t know how to do this! Would I be better off listening to League?”

Sitting in his chair, Roy shrugged, not really knowing what Wally was talking about. “Don’t ask me. I really don’t have nice things to say about the Justice League these days. And could you stop that? You’re going to wear a hole in my floor.”

Wally realized he had been pacing at super speed and sat back down on the bed, his hands gripping his goggles.

“So, you’re mad at Black Canary for giving you a choice?” Roy asked, trying to make sense of the problem.

Wally shook his head. “No, she’s right and she’s the only one other than you or Robin who hasn’t treated me like a child. I’m mad that the Justice League didn’t give me a choice.”

“Ok.”

“God, could I even make a decision like that?” Wally asked himself doubtfully. “What if things don’t get better? How am I supposed to know what to do? Should I just let the Justice League … Goddamn it! Everything was fine before!”

“Not much you can do about it now.”

“No, there isn’t.” Wally stood up and slipped his goggles on.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Roy got his feet.

“Going out. There’s gotta be a crime going on somewhere in this city. I need a criminal to punch, maybe like ten. Maybe I’ll go to Gotham, Batman has some fun villains there.” Wally didn’t get far as Roy grabbed him by the arm. “What? Are you going to start telling me what to do now?”

“No, but you’re not going alone.”

Wally was not happy to hear that. “Roy—”

“I can show you where to go if you want a fight. A real fight.”

A smirk appeared on his face. “Show me.”

Red Arrow showed Kid Flash the seedier parts of Star City. It wasn’t as dangerous as some parts of Gotham, but it was a far cry from what Kid Flash was used to in Central City. There was plenty of crime and more than enough bad guys to go around, just like Wally wanted. His adrenaline moved his body as his mind went blank, fighting on autopilot. He purposefully didn’t use his full speed, it would have ended the fights too quickly and he was having too much fun with the drawn out brawls. Red Arrow was annoyed by his actions, especially when Kid Flash got hit or slashed at unnecessarily, but when wasn’t Red Arrow annoyed?

It was what he wanted. He didn’t have to think, just act. Everything disappeared except for the moment he was in. It was a thrill, though not as fulfilling as running around Central City next to the Flash, but that felt like a lifetime ago. A life that he might never get back. 

When they got back to Roy’s apartment, showered and patched up their wounds, mainly Wally’s wounds from being careless. Then they fell into bed, exhausted.

“Did you get that out of your system?” Roy mumbled.

“I want to go again tomorrow night,” Wally insisted, still tingling from his adrenaline rush.

There was a heavy sigh and, “Fine.”

He had to chuckle. “You are such an enabler.”

The next night they went out again. They went to a different section of the city, but the fighting had been just as fierce, Wally thought it was better actually. He hardly used his speed at all to drag out the fights.

When Wednesday night rolled around Wally was ready to go out, but the look in Roy’s eyes told him not to push his luck, the older teen was tired. Wally’s own muscles were still sore and the deeper bruises had yet to heal, so he relented to a night in. Relieved about his victory, Roy picked out a movie and ordered a couple of pizzas, their dinner of choice. They sat together and laughed about the early days of training and rookie mistakes as the movie ran in the background. Wally had fun, the night in was oddly just as satisfying as the fighting.

Wally couldn’t help but wish that Robin was there too.

Roy was just happy for the quiet night.

Later they laid in bed together, bodies close enough for legs and arms to brush against each other as they slept. It was a quiet night, cool enough to leave the window closed, Wally didn’t snore and Roy didn’t grumble in his sleep.

It was a quiet night, which was probably what alerted Roy to his second unexpected visitor of the week.

Roy opened a single eye when he heard the creak of his window being opened and the sound of feet lightly hitting the floor over. He really needed to invest in some home security. He recognized the footsteps, so he didn’t bother to waken his bed partner and sat up, letting the intruder know that he was awake and not amused.

Perched on his desk was the Boy Wonder, glaring at Roy.

 

Part 13

This really wasn’t the way Roy wanted to be woken up, having to deal with a very pissed off Robin. First Black Canary and now Robin, anymore and he would have to call his landlord about a bird infestation.

Roy got out of bed, shirtless and in his boxers, and for some reason that made Robin’s glare even more intense. Wally moved right into the warm spot Roy left behind, spreading out on the mattress. It would be a struggle for Roy to reclaim his side of the bed again. The older teen grumbled under his breath and grabbed a shirt off the floor, slipping it on and motioned for Robin to follow him out into the kitchen. He got a glass of water while Robin leaned against the counter, his arms crossed as he continued to glare. Roy was happy to keep up the silent game for as long as possible, he knew even his poor excuse for patience would last longer than Robin’s when it came to Wally.

Roy wasn’t disappointed.

“You lied to me! You said you were looking for him! You were the whole reason why I didn’t send a team to Star City and here I was thinking, ‘Oh I don’t need to send Megan to Star City because Roy has it covered, I’ll send her somewhere else!’ But no, you didn’t have it covered!” Robin exploded, barely able to keep his voice down. “I had a plan, a strategy! You ruined my strategy!”

“Should’ve known you would’ve gone overboard with this. Why are you even here if I’m supposed to have Star City covered?”

“Overboard!? I’ll show you—” He took a deep breath, calming himself before he did something he’d regret later. “I’m here because you’re supposed to call me every day, remember? Coordinated effort? I haven’t heard from you in days and you haven’t been answering my calls! I didn’t think you were withholding information from me!”

“First, I never said I’d share information. Second, I was looking for him. And third, if you haven’t noticed I found him.” Roy lazily took a long drink of water.

“I don’t care! You should’ve called me the second you saw KF, because it would’ve been the right thing to do,” Robin seethed.

“It was on my list of things to do, right under I don’t give a damn what you guys tell me to do.”

“This isn’t about getting back at the Justice League or Green Arrow, this is about Wally!” Robin hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he took a few steps towards Roy, his hands clenched at his sides so he wouldn’t wrap his small hands around his friend’s throat. “I thought you were our friend.”

“I am!” Roy snapped. “I’ve been thinking about Wally the entire time! I gave him a place to crash while everyone else tries to figure out his life for him! I don’t treat him like he’s an incapable child that needs to be coddled.”

“That’s not what we’re doing, we’re trying to help Wally. We … We screwed up, big time, but hiding him in Star City isn’t helping him either!”

“Giving him a place to think is more help than what you’ve given him,” Roy shot back. “Why else would he run away?”

“You’re just taking advantage of him! I saw you two tonight! You don’t have anyone else to keep you company and you’re keeping him away from everyone who loves him!”

Ah, that was it. A knowing smile spread over Roy’s face and he knew what to do, he knew how to get under Robin’s skin. He ruffled Robin’s hair, happily annoying the younger teen, “Don’t get so worked up. Wally’s ok, you’ve seen him yourself and he’s figuring things out, why does it matter where he does it?”

Robin was pissed at the sudden change in Roy’s tone. It was so much easier to argue with Roy when he was being his usual angry and hasty self, not cool and rational. Damn him. Especially for being right. “The principle of it matters!”

“Shouldn’t helping Wally be the only thing that matters?” Oh, he totally had Robin on the ropes and he loved it.

“I … Yeah … Whatever.” Robin glowered, Roy won this round.

“Stay the night, I’m sure he wants to see you. You can sleep on the couch, I’ll get some blankets and a pillow.”

Robin nodded sharply in agreement, he would stay and wait to see Wally in the morning, but it didn’t mean that he was happy with Roy. Robin huffed and muttered to himself, “You’re still an ass, Speedy.”

Roy left to get some bedding for his friend, then paused and looked over his shoulder, an evil smile on his face.

“You shouldn’t be jealous.”

“What?”

“You shouldn’t be jealous,” Roy repeated in a taunting voice. “It’s your name he says in his sleep.”

Robin tensed and turned away, trying his best to ignore the blush creeping up his face.

Late in the morning Wally stumbled out of Roy’s room in clothes he stole from the other redhead, rubbing at his eyes as he yawned and relishing the feeling of the cool hardwood floor against his feet. He was hungry and his main mission was to eat breakfast, which was probably going to be a combination of Cheerios and cold pizza. He made an effort not to eat too much though, he had already spent all of the cash he had trying to feed himself and he didn’t want to strain Roy’s limited funds.

As he poured himself a bowl of cereal he caught sight of a large lump on the couch. The blankets were bunched up on the piece of furniture, completely covering whoever was lying there with the exception of a pair of bare feet sticking out at the end. Walking up curiously to the lump, Wally poked at the blankets, hard. 

The lump twitched.

Wally poked again.

Twitch.

Wally poked a foot.

There was a squeal and whoever was under the covers struggled to get out, thrashing all about. After a minute, a head poked out, black hair stuck up in all directions and a mask was situated crookedly on a young face.

“Robin!” Wally jumped back.

Robin, still groggy from sleep, pushed back the blanket. He had stripped out of his uniform top, gloves, cape, belt and boots, and folded them neatly to the side, leaving him basically in his leggings. He blinked a couple times before he focused on the young speedster in front of him.

“Rob,” Wally repeated.

Robin lunged himself at the redhead and while Wally had opened his arms to his friend, he soon used them to shield himself. Robin had grabbed his pillow and began beating the older teen with a vengeance.

“You idiot!” Robin yelled as he hit Wally with the pillow, not worried about waking up Roy, who was still sleeping in the other room. “You idiot! You left and you didn’t tell me where you were! I was so worried! After … After all we’ve been through, you just left! I am so pissed at you! When we couldn’t find you I imagined you hurt somewhere or maybe someone had taken you! You idiot! I’m implanting a tracer under your skin!”

A laugh surprised Robin and he yelped when Wally caught one of his wrists, making him drop the pillow, and pulled him into a hug. Stunned, Robin let himself be hugged by the laughing boy, wondering if he hit Wally too many times in the head.

“Thank you,” Wally said as his laughter died down.

“What? I was hitting you and you’re thanking me?”

“Yeah.” Wally moved back and smiled. “You’re mad at me and you should be. Thank you.”

“Thank you?” The Boy Wonder really wasn’t getting it. 

“For being mad and not trying to sugarcoat it.”

The anger in Robin faded away and he deflated a bit. He understood what Wally needed. Dick had to be himself in order for Wally to be himself. That was where they went terribly wrong back at Mount Justice and while Dick wanted to be overprotective and make sure that nothing hurt Wally ever again, it wasn’t what he needed. Wally needed him to be his friend, not his protector.

“Yeah, well, it’s the best way to get through your thick head sometimes.”

“Man, I’ve never seen you freak out so much before!” The grin slipped off of Wally’s face when he saw Robin’s narrowed eyes. “Robin, are you really that mad at me?”

A hand shot out and snatched Wally’s wrist, bringing him closer and pushing up the long sleeve of the shirt he was wearing. A large, dark purple bruise covered Wally’s forearm, peeking out from the sleeve. It was still healing from the other night during one of his fights, Roy thought the bone was probably fractured, but the young speedster didn’t seem too worried about it.

“What is this?”

“Oh, um, you know, we were out on patrol and things got dicey …”

Wally watched with wide eyes as Robin disappeared down the hallway and he dashed after him. He made it to Roy’s room in time to see Robin fling himself at the sleeping figure in the bed. Stealing the unoccupied pillow, Robin proceeded to beat Red Arrow.

“What the hell!?” Roy cursed, trying to block Robin’s attack.

“You said he was ok! He’s hurt! That bruise on his arm doesn’t look ok to me!”

“Goddamn it, Robin! Get off of me!”

Even though he knew he really should’ve helped Roy, Wally couldn’t stop laughing. Pure, uncontrolled laughter at the sight of a half dress thirteen year old battering the tough Red Arrow with a pillow. He smiled as Roy managed to break through Robin’s attack and wrestled with the younger teen, altering between who he cheered for while making sure they didn’t accidentally kill each other. 

He was happy to see Robin, happy that he was with his two best friends, happy that he was in Star City, happy that he was away from the sources of his insecurities and fears.

Just happy and nothing else …

… Why did that happiness feel so foreign?

 

Interlude 3 – Best Laid Plans

A cool breeze from the open window made the apartment pleasant during the afternoon and Wally was at peace with mixing potentially dangerous chemicals to place on trick arrows. Sitting on the floor of the living room in borrowed clothing, he attached the containers onto the ends of arrow shafts with the help of his irritable assistant. 

Earlier Robin disappeared after beating Roy with a pillow, but came back with a bag with his things and some extra money, setting it down on the couch. Robin made it clear that he wasn’t leaving until Wally was ready to return and he even had Batman’s permission as his summer break wasn’t over yet and all missions had been suspended for the time being. Wally was overjoyed. Roy grumbled that his apartment was not a hotel. There was a sense animosity between his two best friends, but Wally ignored it and suggested that Dick help him with his work. Dick was happy to help Wally, but loathed to help Roy at the moment.

“He didn’t tell me you were here and I really thought he would,” Dick explained, answering Wally’s question as to why he was mad at Roy. “I was afraid after you disappeared and when we couldn’t find you in Central City after your aunt saw you … Well, apparently Batman knew right away, he told the Flash you were fine once he knew, but it took him two days to tell me! I’m glad you came here though and not back to your parents.”

“I did go home,” Wally admitted. 

“What!? Why?” Robin almost dropped the small container of chemicals he was holding, but caught it in time. A good thing too, Wally said that combination would leave criminals paralyzed for a few minutes.

A shrug and frown. “I thought I could make things go back to the way they were. Pretty messed up, huh? But it’s what I know. It just … It made sense at the time, but I think … I know I can’t stay there anymore.”

“That’s good, that’s really good,” he replied, keeping his hands busy with Roy’s stupid arrows. The older teen said he had ‘important business’ to do during the day, but Robin was pretty sure that Red Arrow was lazy and didn’t want to help with the upkeep of his own weapons.

“I want to go back,” Wally whispered.

Dick’s fingers froze and his eyes widened behind his sunglasses.

“I know it’s stupid,” he continued. “But they’re my parents, you know? I keep thinking that I’ll make them proud one day. Like if I save the world, because I’m awesome, that would probably make them proud that I’m their son. If I leave I’ll never get the opportunity to make them love me. And now, not knowing where I’ll end up, I just … I just don’t want to disappoint someone else who’s stuck with me.”

“Come live in Gotham.” The words just came out of Dick’s mouth without him thinking, but he didn’t regret them, not in the slightest. He had always wanted to say them.

“Gotham? With you and Batman? Would I be Bat-Flash then?” That prompted a mental image of him swinging through the rooftops of Gotham in his stealth mode Kid Flash suit with bat ears on the cowl, instead of lightning bolts, and a cape. He also tried to imagine Batman as his guardian, but all he could picture was Batman scowling at him like usual, probably thinking he was a bad influence on Robin.

Dick made a face. “No, you could still be Kid Flash, you would just live with Bruce, Alfred and I.”

Bruce? Oh yeah, Batman’s secret identity, that was an easy connection to make now that he knew Robin was Dick Grayson. But who … “Alfred?”

“He’s been Bruce’s butler ever since he was a baby, but Alfred’s family. You’ll like him, he’s a great cook.”

“Sounds like my kind of guy. So, you want me to live with you?”

“Only if you want to,” Dick said quickly. “And if Batman says yes.” Minor details.

And why shouldn’t Wally live at Wayne Manor, Dick thought to himself, as he thought to himself ever since Wally had confessed to him about his parents. It wasn’t like another growing boy in the mansion would bankrupt Bruce, even with Wally’s appetite. Bruce and Alfred were strict and would to keep him in line, but compassionate enough to show the young speedster that he was loved. They would go to the same private school, with Wally in the high school section. They would also have bedrooms next to each others at home, go on patrol together, eat meals together, do homework side by side, train together, and the second Wally needed someone Dick would be there. Dick really didn’t see any downsides to this scenario.

Being associated with Bruce Wayne would open so many more doors for Wally’s future and he could get into any university he wanted. Once admission offices saw that Bruce Wayne was Wally West’s guardian, in addition to his own stunning intellect, on his applications, Dick knew that schools would be fighting one another to call Wally one of their own. That’s if the colleges even gave Wally a chance to fill out an application, their interest would be piqued the moment they heard that one of Bruce Wayne’s adopted sons was looking at colleges to attend and the offers would roll in.

That’s when Dick realized the problem with the whole scenario, making the plans he developed in his mind come crashing down in a rain of bitter disappointment.

“Being Bruce Wayne’s adopted kid is kind of public, isn’t it?” Wally quietly said out loud what Dick was currently thinking.

“We could work something out,” Dick insisted, but he wasn’t sure how. 

Bruce tried to shield Dick from the limelight as much as possible, but it was little use, everyone knew who Richard Grayson was. Even if they put their best efforts to keep it quiet, it wouldn’t be long before some journalist caught wind of Bruce’s newest son and nothing could shield Wally from the media attention. Dick knew that in order for Wally to be safe, he had to disappear. Being Bruce Wayne’s second adopted son would do just the opposite.

“You could be Alfred’s son,” he suggested lamely. That wouldn’t work either, there was too much attention on Wayne Manor that it really wouldn’t matter whose son Wally officially was.

A heavy, unusual silence draped over them. The silence was suffocating and Dick desperately wanted to go back into time and punch his five minute past self and tell him to keep his big mouth shut or he’d break it. No, he didn’t regret offering his home to Wally, but he regretted the all too familiar sadness in green eyes.

“I am totally not going to be the butler’s son. I mean, if he’s Batman’s butler then that would make me like your butler. No deal.” There was a little bit of a smirk to the comment that lightened Dick’s heart.

“I don’t need a butler, but I could use a maid.”

“Dude!” But there was a smile and brightness to Wally’s voice that wasn’t there before.

“You could wear one of those dresses with the short skirts and aprons. Oh! And the stockings, can’t forget the stockings and high heels,” Dick teased, not noticing Roy, who just came home.

Roy blinked, not understanding why Dick was saying that Wally could wear a dress and stockings.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to know!” Roy stomped to his bedroom, complaining under his breath about birds and speedsters as the sound of childish giggles followed him.

 

Part 14

“He’s fine,” Robin said into his cell phone. The signal would bounce all over, making it almost impossible to trace, just one of the little improvements he made to his phone. “You don’t need to come here.”

Superboy growled over the line. “I don’t care! Kaldur says to trust your judgment, but I—”

“I know this is hard, but honestly, if we have tons of people all around him Wally’s going to freak and run again. Just wait a little longer, he’ll come home soon.” Or that’s what he hoped at least, Wally seemed rather comfortable at Roy’s place.

“Fine.” Conner’s tone told Robin that it wasn’t.

“Have you heard anything else about who the Martian Manhunter is planning to put Wally with?” Better to switch the topic to something more productive.

There was some shuffling and a door closing. “From what I’ve overheard Green Lantern is a strong possibility.”

“John Stewart or Hal Jordan?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. Who else?”

There was a long pause and then, “Superman—”

Robin’s heart sunk. Oh, Conner.

“—said his parents are willing to take him.”

That’s … a little better.

“That’s all I’ve heard.”

“Ok, keep me updated. Wally says hi and that he misses you guys.”

“We miss him too. And you.”

“I miss you guys too, but we’ll be a team again soon.”

“We’re still a team.”

“Yeah, we are,” a smile tugged on Robin’s lips and he said his goodbyes to Conner and turned off the phone.

He glanced down at the bag he held with a couple boxes of pastries from a bakery down the road from Roy’s apartment and smiled to himself, Wally would be thrilled. When the sun crept up in the east that Friday morning, Dick woke up in a good mood. He woke up to Wally pressed close to him on the couch, sometime in the middle of the night Wally had made his way from Roy’s bed to the couch, making it a tight, but comfortable squeeze on the piece of furniture.

Robin had gotten up and decided to go out in the morning while his friends continued to sleep. He needed to call Bruce and Conner to keep them updated on Wally and himself, he also thought some breakfast would be nice to bring back. An hour later, Robin headed back to the apartment. He was almost at Roy’s door when he heard a loud crash and a yell. Thankfully most of the neighbors had left for work for the day, causing no one any concern except for Robin.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Robin took out his utility belt, slinging it over his body. He mentally prepared himself for whatever was inside and quickly opened the door, rolling in, managing to place his boxes of pastries neatly on the floor and grabbed a batarang at the same time, positioning himself in a defensive crouch. His heart raced as he assessed the situation, taking in the state of the apartment around him for signs of a struggle and an intruder. The coffee table in the living room had been kicked over and Wally sitting on the ground, his back against the couch, knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried in his arms. Roy was nowhere in sight. Things didn’t look good.

“KF! Are you ok?” Robin whispered, not leaving his position to keep the exit blocked, even though he longed to hold Wally and make sure he was unhurt.

“Rob! Stop him!” Wally yelled in a strained voice once he noticed Robin.

Stop who? Robin’s eyes darted around the apartment, who did he need to stop? Where was Roy? He finally spotted Roy coming from the hallway, but his relief was short lived.

“Roy! Calm down!” Robin stood up, letting the batarang fall from his hand, kicked the door shut behind of him and braced himself to physically restrain a livid Roy Harper with his bow and quiver of arrows.

“Calm down?!” Roy spat in Robin’s face. “You knew! You knew about this and you’re letting them get away with it!”

It clicked into place. Wally told Roy.

“Get out of my way, Robin. I’m going to do what you should’ve done the moment you found out.”

He had never seen Roy so angry, Roy’s outburst at the Hall of Justice paled in comparison to this. The fury that Roy expressed was not unlike the fury that Dick had felt when Wally told him about his parents, he still felt it and the idea of stepping aside and letting Roy go on his rampage was tempting. Stepping aside was tempting, because going to Central City and beating Rudolph West within an inch of his life was something he wanted to do personally. 

Because when Dick closed his eyes he could picture that man looming over Wally, calling him a freak, telling him he was worthless, keeping food from him and crushing his goggles under his foot. He could picture Mary West shrinking back in fear of her son, pleading for him to be normal, enabling Rudolph’s control, blaming Wally for everything and wishing for times that never existed. Dick could see the look of acceptance in Wally’s eyes over his situation. Dick feared that if Wally stayed with his parents a second longer that there would be nothing left of his friend, that his father would strip away the last bit of pride and sense of self that Wally possessed and all that would be left would be a hollow shell.

It would be so easy to step aside and let Roy go to Central City.

He couldn’t though. Not when Wally was huddled on the ground with tears on his face, frightened by their friend’s violent reaction and afraid for his parents safety. Dick Grayson would be the one to stand up for Wally.

“I can’t. I can’t let you do this, even though I want to. I really want to, but I can’t.”

Robin’s heart stopped as Roy dropped his bow and quiver and grabbed the collar of his sweatshirt, jerking him up and forcing him to stand on his toes.

“And you questioned me whether I was a friend,” he snarled, shaking Robin so hard his sunglasses fell off his face. There was no recognition on Roy’s face over who Robin was, just anger. “What kind of friend are you!?”

Long arms wrapped around Roy’s broad chest from behind, surprising the older teen. Wally pressed his face against his back and Roy could feel the warm wetness of tears through the thin fabric of his shirt.

“Please, Roy.” A muffled plea came. “Please, stop … Don’t hurt him.”

“I’d never hurt Robin.” Roy let go of Robin and clasped the hands resting on his chest. “Wally, let me go. They need to pay.”

“No!” His voice was ragged. “No, they’re my parents … I can’t let you … Please, just stop.”

“Why are you protecting them?” The older teen couldn’t comprehend Wally’s unending loyalty to the people who had emotionally abused him for years. Not people, monsters, who didn’t know that they’re annoying brat of a son was a great person, one of the best Roy knew.

“Because he’s Wally,” Robin said as if that explained anything. “He’ll protect anyone he cares about, even if they are terrible people.”

“Please Roy,” Wally begged. He almost panicked when Roy pried his hands away, but he was soon embraced by the other redhead.

“Damn it,” he swore. “If you were anyone else I would’ve left.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

The day went on in a similar fashion as the day Wally first told Robin. The day was spent in quiet comfort, well, as quietly as Roy could take things. Which meant that it wasn’t quiet at all. When Wally suggested a Disney movie to watch Roy countered with an action movie, when Wally wanted a hug Roy complained that he and Robin should get a room, when Wally wanted lie around in pajamas Roy said they should go on patrol. Robin wanted to tell Roy to shut up, but he saw the hint of a smile on Wally’s face and he saw that Roy was doing the right thing. He wasn’t treating Wally any differently than before.

They got back in the wee hours of the morning from patrol and Robin barely managed to get out of his uniform and before he dropped onto the couch. When Roy said go out on patrol Robin didn’t realize that he meant that they were going to the find the worst parts of Star City to fight the scum of the Earth. Not long after Robin fell asleep, Roy was tugging him up by the arm.

“Wha?”

“Come on, rich boy, can’t have your fancy ass sleeping on the couch,” Roy ordered. So Roy did recognize who he was, Batman was going to kill him.

“You’re a jerk, Speedy,” Dick shuffled along, dragging his blanket and pillow with him. Stupid Roy, won this round too.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re just lucky he’s been mumbling about you in his sleep or else I wouldn’t even bother.”

Roy took his side of the bed closest to the window and Dick slid in on the other side, with a sleeping Wally in between them. The bed was a queen size, but it was still a close fit. Wally seemed to sense Dick’s presence and latched onto him right away, giving Roy a little more breathing room.

Wally rested his cheek against Dick shoulder and opened his eyes to look up at his friend in the darkness.

“I … I think … I’m ready to go back soon …”

“Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be at your side,” Dick whispered back as he tangled his fingers into bright red hair. “Wherever you go, I’ll be there with you.”

And he would.

Because he totally put a tracer in Wally’s goggles.

 

Part 15

Roy’s frown deepened, which Wally had previously thought wasn’t possible.

“I’ll be fine. If I’m unhappy I’ll come back here and we’ll be roomies!” Wally put on his cheesiest grin, the one that usually made Roy cringe.

“You better,” Roy gave him a half smile. “I would hate to hear that you’re miserable and have to kidnap you. Then I’d have to put up with you whining that you were kidnapped.”

“I knew you cared!” He threw his arms around the older boy, who tensed at first, but relaxed and returned the hug. Wally squeezed him and whispered, “Thank you, Roy.”

Roy pulled away and tried to look annoyed, but failed. “Yeah, well, just take care of yourself.”

“I know, I need to think about what’s best for me.” 

The smile on Wally’s face was strained and the older teen doubted over how ready the speedster was to leave. 

His doubt must’ve been visible as Wally lightly punched his arm and said, “I have to do this. Things aren’t going to get better if I keep hiding here. I need to face this the only way I know how.” 

“Running into it at full speed and knocking yourself out?”

“You know me so well! We’re practically soul mates!” This time the grin came easily. 

“Save your pick up lines for the teen Martian and Arrow Girl.”

“Their names are Megan and Artemis,” Dick corrected crossly.

Roy sighed. “Why do you assume I care? You’re lucky I remember you two and Aqualad.”

Wally turned to Dick, “I think it’s probably time we stop bothering Roy and go back to Mount Justice, he’s getting cranky.”

Roy crossed his arms and glared at Dick, “Yeah, I can finally have my bed back and I don’t have to listen to you guys whispering all night like it’s a sleepover.”

Dick glared back, “Hey, no one forced you to stay in the bed. You have a perfectly comfortable couch.”

“It’s my bed! My apartment!” Roy exclaimed. “And Wally, I want my clothes back.”

Wally shrugged, looking down at the long sleeved shirt and rolled up jeans he was borrowing from Roy. Next time he decided to run away he needed to pack a few things instead of bumming things off of his friends. He knew he wouldn’t give them back, despite the fact that the clothes hung off of him because of Roy’s broader form. Once he had the funding he would buy his friend a new set. Having Roy’s clothes made Wally feel a little tougher, a little stronger like his friend, a constant reminder that under Roy’s perpetual scowl of anger was someone who truly cared for his friends and would do anything to protect them.

Plus, he needed a souvenir for his stay with Roy.

They said their goodbyes and Wally beamed as Roy and Dick hugged, though he was pretty sure they were whispering insults to one another. They were both kind of mad at each other, Dick was mad because Roy didn’t tell him where Wally was and Roy was mad because Dick didn’t tell him about Wally’s parents. However, they came to an uneasy understanding over their mutual concern for their friend. But that didn’t mean that they couldn’t insult each other every opportunity they got.

Before they left, Roy said to Dick, “Keep me updated on everything. I’ll be around soon.”

Dick nodded. “I will.”

When Dick and Wally eventually made it to the portal hidden in Star City that would take them to Mount Justice, Wally stopped short.

“I … There’s something I have to do.”

“Did you forget something at Roy’s place?” Dick asked.

“No. I’ll meet you at Mount Justice. Give me an hour or two,” Wally looked down at his watch. It was early in the morning on Sunday and he had been missing for over a week now. “I’ll be there in time for lunch, tell Megan I want the biggest sandwich ever.”

“You tell her! Do you think that I’m going to let you disappear again? I told the team that we’re coming back together. Whatever you need to do, I’ll come with you.”

“No,” Wally shook his head. That really wasn’t an option. “I need to do this alone.”

“Wally …”

He placed his hands on Dick’s shoulders and looked his friend in the eyes, well, at least where he thought his eyes might be under those sunglasses. “Dick, I need to do this. I promise you, I’ll be back in time for lunch. I need you to trust me.”

“Fine. You really don’t want to know what kinds of horrible things I’ll do to you if you don’t.”

Wally laughed, but he did know that horrible things would come his way if he didn’t return. “I know, I know, you’ll probably have Batman come after me in my nightmares or something.”

“Batman would be the least of your worries,” Dick threatened. “I’m not taking a step inside Mount Justice without you. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Thanks, man.”

Once Wally put on his goggles and ran out of sight, Dick fetched his gauntlet with his computer from his bag and put it on his arm, accessing holographic the screen that popped up. His fingers flew over the keyboard and soon a map of the United States came up with a bright red dot racing across it.

The Boy Wonder smiled at his cleverness as he proceeded to reprogram the portal for a new destination, congratulating himself, “Best idea ever. This came in handy a lot sooner than I expected.” 

-

Wally was excited to run again. He enjoyed with time with Roy and helping his friend with patrols and his cases, but Star City was cramped, not giving him a lot of room to run like he wanted to. Once he was out of the city limits he made better time and he ran across the vast expansion of the country, speeding up when he hit flat, even ground. This was what he longed to do for over a week, to run without any limits, nothing holding him back and for a few seconds become the very essence of speed. In these moments Wally was in complete control of himself, he knew who he was –Kid Flash–, he knew his place in the world –the fastest kid alive–, he knew what was in his future –speed and more speed–, and his heart sang with every stride he took. Wally loved his powers, he loved being Kid Flash, and he loved being a superhero with superhero friends and a superhero mentor.

Wally skidded to a stop, stumbling a bit on his deceleration.

He loved being Kid Flash, his parents hated it.

In front of him was Central City, the city he had lived in his entire life.

His parents hated him being Kid Flash. Despised him, feared him, controlled him.

All too soon Wally was standing on the porch, took his key out and he slid it into the lock. 

You’re perfect the way you are.

His aunt’s words echoed in his head and he wanted to believe her so much. Then he remembered the anguish on his Uncle Barry’s face and his comforting words about how much he loved Wally. The concern from Conner, Megan, Kaldur and Artemis, the support they gave him, the way they held onto him to keep him calm, not once blaming him. Roy finding him, offering his apartment, hugging him when Roy really didn’t do hugs, and his rage over the thought of someone hurting Wally. Black Canary treating him with respect, asking him to make a decision when no one else did. And Dick. Dick who was always there, holding him, being the friend that Wally needed so desperately and who tried so hard to remove Wally from his home to protect him. Because Dick cared. They all did. They cared and loved him.

Black Canary was right, he had a choice.

The key was still in the lock, unturned. Wally took it out and stepped back from the front door. He didn’t have to do this, he didn’t have to see them.

But Wally was too slow in making his decision.

The door unlocked from the other side and opened, revealing Mary West. She looked tired, dark circles under her eyes, no makeup on, and her clothes were rumpled. Wally was shocked by her appearance, she was usually put together, not a single hair out of place, clothes perfectly pressed and makeup always on. Seeing his mother like this was disturbing.

“Oh sweetie!” Her voice was filled with relief and there was such delight in her eyes that Wally didn’t know what to think. “Oh Wally, you’re back! You’re back! I was so worried about you!”

Yes, his friends and aunt and uncle cared about him and loved him. He was grateful for that and it helped him to realize that he mattered, he was important, he was a person, he was Wally West. Still, he couldn’t help but long for his parents love and approval. Longed for it so much that it physically hurt and left him gasping for air.

So when his mother stepped forward and held her arms out to him, Wally moved towards her and let her envelop him in her embrace. The action was pathetic, Wally thought, but he couldn’t remember the last time his mother had opened her arms to him and he couldn’t resist.

“It’s ok now, Mommy is here,” she cooed, stroking his hair as Wally hid his face into her shoulder, tears leaking from his eyes. “My little boy is back, my little boy. It’s ok, I’m here, don’t be scared, sweetie.”

He ignored her words and ate up her affection like a starved man. If he could pretend for a little while it might hurt less.

 

Part 16

The tea kettle whistled loudly on the stove and Mary West picked it up, pouring hot water into a mug with hot cocoa mix. She put the mug in front of her son and placed a few marshmallows in it, she always made hot cocoa for her son when he was still her little boy.

“Thank, Mom,” Wally mumbled, sitting with a straight back at the kitchen table, looking around to see where his dad was. “Um, where’s Dad?”

“Oh, he’s at the police station with Barry. They’ve been looking for you, sweetie.” She reached out and patted his head. “We were so worried about you when you went missing, but your father will be happy to see you and we’ll be a family again.”

Wrapping his hands around the warm mug, Wally couldn’t bring himself to look his mother in the eyes. He had to say what he came here to say and all the better that his father wasn’t there. “I … I came to talk to you. It’s probably better that Dad isn’t here.”

Mary sat down next to her son, not really listening. “Do you remember when you were six and you got lost at the mall?”

“What?” The question caught him off guard, but he knew what she was talking about. “I mean, yeah, how could I forget? I was really scared.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever been that scared,” his mother said as if she were bragging. That being separated from her was the most terrifying thing he had ever been through.

That fear he went through as a child was nothing though when compared to the fear that he experienced after he became Kid Flash. There is nothing like watching his friends being flung around like ragdolls by an overpowered villain to make Wally afraid. Or not knowing if he’d get his body back from an ancient Lord of Order. Or trying to vibrate through a wall and finding blood on his face. Or having his father scream in his face that he wasn’t a person anymore. Those were moments that were far scarier to Wally than being lost at a mall.

And then he realized why she was concerned, why she had been worried about him running away. His mom was still clinging onto her memories of better times and his disappearance reminded her of that day in the mall. Going clothes shopping was something that a young Wally dreaded and he had wandered off while his mom looked for a new shirt. Almost three hours later she found him huddled in the clothes racks on another floor of the store. He was so happy to be found, his tiny arms stretched out towards her and he didn’t let go of her even after he cried himself to sleep. 

She must’ve felt so needed, so loved.

Didn’t she realize that Wally never stopped loving her? He still loved her.

“Were you scared?” His mother asked, disrupting his reminiscence. “Were you scared without me while you were missing?”

“I … I was ok,” Wally answered. “A couple of friends looked after me.”

Her expression darkened.

He needed to move the conversation along before she totally closed off on him. “Mom, I need you to listen to me. I, um, I’m … I’m going away again.”

“Always on your missions,” she hissed, jumping to conclusions. “You’re always gone because you’re on missions, because you don’t need anyone else, because you don’t have time to be normal, to be my son!”

“No! That’s not it!”

“You’re just some little freak.”

Wally flinched away from his mother. He had to follow through, he wanted to say goodbye so that both he and his parents could have some closure. “No, but I can’t be here. I’m … I’m going to live somewhere else. I wanted you to know, to say goodbye …”

Mary’s demeanor changed immediately. “Oh no, sweetie, you can’t leave, you’re my baby. No, this is your home.”

“Mom, I can’t stay here. Not when things are like this. I have to live somewhere else.” His throat constricted as his mom grabbed one of his hands and stroked his hair.

“No, no, this is your home, we’re a family, sweetie.”

He didn’t get a chance to try to convince her otherwise as the front door opened. Rudolph West had come home.

“Mary? What are you—” Rudolph stopped and stared at his son who had been missing for over a week.

“Rudy!” Mary brightened at the appearance of her husband. “Wally said that he’s going to leave again, tell him he can’t leave!”

“I never even gave that thing permission to leave in the first place.” Rudolph moved towards Wally and grabbed his arm, yanking the teenager out of his chair. Regaining his footing, Wally stood straight and kept his gaze to the floor. 

“Did I give you permission to leave for a week!?” His father nearly screamed.

“No, sir.”

Rudolph picked up Wally’s abandoned mug of cocoa and threw it against the nearest wall. Neither Wally nor Mary even winced at the act. He was frozen where he stood, too scared to move and his mother just kept smiling from where she sat. Wally wasn’t sure how much his mother was in touch with reality anymore.

“You think you can do anything, because you’re a freak that can run fast. Let me tell you this, you’re nothing and you’ve always been nothing, but you belong to me! This ends. The Kid Flash thing is done.”

“What?” He didn’t think, the question just came out. So stupid, stupid, stupid.

“What did you just say?” There was a threat behind that growl that made Wally’s hands shake.

“I didn’t say anything, I’m sorry, sir.”

Rudolph towered over his son. “You’re lucky that I keep you, that I give you a roof to live under. No one else would take in a thing. You think that you’re lucky?”

“Yes, sir, I’m very lucky.” Sometimes he believed it, that he was lucky, because it could be worse. He always told himself that, it could be worse. It could be worse.

“You aren’t a hero, you never were. This pretending has made you start believing that you’re something. Just because you can run fast doesn’t make you the Flash. Tell me, what are you?”

“Nothing, sir.” Why did this come so naturally? “I’m nothing, sir.”

“Who do you belong to?”

“You, sir. I’m nothing, sir.” How many times had he said it in the past? How many times?

“And don’t forget it. If you ever disobey me again, if you talk back, if you even give me a look I don’t like, you might find yourself in an accident that would make your running around hard to do. Permanently.”

Anxiety seized Wally’s body, squeezing the air from his lungs and making him weak enough that he had to lean against the kitchen table to support himself. The threat made his blood turn to ice, and god, he couldn’t imagine his life without running, then he really would be nothing. And the look in his father’s eyes told him he would make good on that threat. He must’ve been furious at Wally, he had made threats against him before, but he was never so serious about it, his eyes never looked so cold. Not even most of the Flash’s Rogues seemed this cruel. Captain Boomerang or the Trickster would be a godsend at that moment.

Everything in his mind and body told him to run away, that he had to get out and never return, but he was rooted to floor and years of conditioning kept Wally where he stood. And he wondered if he would ever be able to leave, if the control his father had over him was so complete that his body naturally shut down at his father’s command. Regret filled Wally for coming back, thinking that he could say a simple goodbye and walk away from this life. For an agonizing second, Wally wondered if he’d ever see Robin and his friends again.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion to Wally. He heard the crunch of splintering wood from the door being torn down first and a scream, two actually, one of alarm and another of unfiltered rage. His mother jumped from her seat and pressed herself into a corner, watching the scene in horror. His father was shoved to the side and fell to the ground as a cannon ball of pure muscle and power came charging towards Wally.

“Conner!” Superboy’s name slipped from Wally’s mouth in surprise. Wally was even more surprised as Connor grabbed him, lifting him off his feet and holding him in his arms. “What are you doing!?” 

Mary West cowered in the corner of the room, but her face was twisted up in sorrow as she gazed over at her son. Maybe she realized that things had gone too far and now she risked never seeing her boy again. She feared Wally, but his green eyes, the dusting of freckles on his cheeks and the brightness of his hair were shadows of the little boy she longed for. The look in her eyes showed that she understood that she was about to lose the wisps of a past and fiction she longed for and she grieved its loss.

“Who—” His father’s eyes were wide as he stared at Superboy, not recognizing the angry teen. He lost the ability to speak and didn’t even try to get up.

Conner was unimpressed by the sight before him, once Rudolph was confronted by something more powerful than him, he was a coward. Rudolph West lost that bit of control he had and he was even further intimidated that it was occurring in his house where he was so used to having power over every situation. Behind that initial shock and fear, there was a deep anger for the kid who dared to interfere with his domain. It was that anger and stubbornness within Rudolph West that the Martian Manhunter had read in him, that made him dangerous and made it a necessity that Wally disappear, out of his reach. Not even intimidation made him want to let go of his control over his son.

Superboy glared down at the man on the floor. “You’re lucky I don’t end you right now.” 

Wally saw the fury on Conner’s face and shrank against his chest and clutched onto his shirt when Conner ran out of the house and away from the residential area. He gasped as Conner took a leap off of the ground when they were far enough away and into the sky. Wally could feel the wind against his face and the rush of when gravity had no hold on a person, until they were in a freefall back down to the Earth.

They were at the outskirts of Central City and Robin was waiting for them.

“Dude! What are you guys doing here!?” Wally was seriously confused.

“We’ve had surveillance on your parents’ house since you went missing,” Conner explained. “Today was my turn.”

“I thought you’d come back here, so I met with Superboy.” No reason to tell Wally about the tracer in his goggles. “We didn’t want to make scene and I was trying to figure out how to get you out of there quietly, but it sounded like things were getting rough in there.”

“I won the coin toss over who would go get you.” Conner sounded awfully smug over that. Robin rolled his eyes and mumbled something about Conner stealing his thunder.

“I think you guys just kidnapped me,” Wally stated flatly.

“Your point is?” Robin didn’t seem bothered by it. “And what were you doing there anyway?”

Wally shrugged, “I … I wanted to say goodbye …”

There was a large part of Robin that wanted to channel his inner Roy and seize Wally by the shirt and shake him, demanding what he was thinking and why would he put himself in such danger. Instead he managed a smile, there would be plenty of time to question Wally’s sanity later. “Come on, let’s go back to Mount Justice. I called Megan and told her we’d be back for lunch.”

“Sounds good to me,” Wally said a bit uneasily, he would have to finally face this. When he tried to get to his feet he found that the pair of arms wrapped around him kept him in place. “Hey Supey?”

Conner glanced at the boy in his arms.

“Mind putting me down? I appreciate the gesture and everything, but this is getting a little embarrassing, you know, you holding me all bridal style.”

“If I let you go, you’ll run away,” Conner reasoned.

“I promise not to!”

“Not letting you go.”

Wally squirmed and tried to get loose, but he didn’t stand a chance against Superman’s clone. He finally gave up and rested his head on Conner’s shoulder. 

“You’re getting good at the superhero business, Supey.”

“Huh?”

“You saved me, Conner.” Closing his eyes, Wally thought that Conner was rather comfortable. He’d have to remember that his friend would be a good place to take a nap. “I didn’t think I’d be able to leave, I wanted to, but when I got there I couldn’t, I couldn’t even move. Then you came and you saved me.”

Robin grinned from ear to ear, “You might say that Conner protected you.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, he did.” A smile spread over Wally’s face, “Thanks Conner, for protecting me.”

Robin gave Conner a knowing wink, who smirked in return.

Conner didn’t think that he could ever repay Wally for the moon, but keeping his promise to protect him was a start.

 

Part 17

“It’s crooked again,” Megan said, tilting her head to the side. “Bring it up on the right side.”

Artemis sighed as she readjusted the large handmade banner from her position on top of a ladder that Kaldur was holding steady for her. “You’re the one who can fly, so why am I straightening out the banner?”

“You don’t have the eye for it, you’ve already proven that. Ah! There! It’s perfect!” She gazed up with pride at the lovingly handmade banner she’d been working on ever since Robin called Superboy that he had found Wally and that they would be home soon.

She had written in large, bold, red letters “WELCOME HOME WALLY!!!” with little lightning bolts all over and a doodle of Kid Flash running with a giant smile and a cookie in hand with a drawing of herself flying over him. She also signed her name in Martian script. Kaldur drew a fish and wrote his full name in his own native language. Artemis signed her name with a green bow and arrow. Conner even contributed before he left for surveillance on the West household, writing his name in a messy scrawl and what looked to be stick figures of himself and Wally. Before hanging up their masterpiece, Megan added at the bottom “WE MISSED YOU TOO ROBIN” in smaller black and red letters, with her artistic interpretation of a robin and a computer.

The Martian also baked a cake that Artemis eagerly decorated for her and Kaldur picked up a few large sub sandwiches for lunch and a bunch of balloons, buying ones with superhero logos on them. Presents sat on the counter, they were silly little things that they hoped would make Wally smile and remind him that his home was with them. Everything looked perfect to Megan, all she needed was the rest of the team so they could celebrate Wally’s return.

Her hopes rose when the computer began to announce the arrival of someone, but the blur that came in was a taller and red. The Flash had come, looking overeager to see his partner. Megan wasn’t disappointed to see him though and warmly welcomed the older speedster. If they were going to welcome Wally home properly, they would need his mentor.

“I heard Wally was coming back,” the Flash unnecessarily explained his presence.

“I know he’ll be happy to see you,” Megan reassured the older superhero. “We couldn’t have a welcome back party for Wally without you.”

The computer made another announcement and this time it was the group that Megan was hoping to see. She, Artemis and Kaldur gathered around as Robin, Conner and Wally appeared. Initially they were all worried seeing Conner carrying Wally, but then he put the other teen down and Wally seemed to be able to stand on his own.

“Welcome home, Wally!” Megan flew over to wrap her arms around him.

“Thanks, Megan. I’m back at Mount Justice and I have a beautiful girl in arms, can’t think of anything better than this,” Wally grinned, returning Megan’s hug.

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty comfy there in Conner’s arms,” Artemis teased and hugged him once Megan let go of him.

Even Kaldur embraced him. “I’m happy you’re back,” his team leader said as he pulled back, a webbed hand lingering on his shoulder. “I am sorry about before, telling you that were no longer on active duty, I was insensitive.”

“Kaldur—” Wally started to protest, but his leader cut him off.

“If you are not on active duty, then none of us are. We are a team and we are no longer a team if you are not with us. We’ll continue to train and better ourselves together, until we’re all ready to go back on missions.”

Wally smiled, “You’ve been working on the inspirational speeches, haven’t you?”

“He’s been working on it all morning!” Megan beamed as Kaldur blushed.

The young speedster laughed, touched by Kaldur’s words, though he was a little overwhelmed by the attention from his friends. A week of lying around Roy’s apartment and the incident at his parents’ house did not prepare him for the outpouring of love and joy from his friends. But the banner did make him smile and he would have to remind himself to take it later. It would make an excellent souvenir.

His eyes then caught something tall and red standing outside of the group and he knew right away who it was. Without thinking, Wally’s feet started moving and he only made it a couple of steps before he was wrapped in the arms of the Fastest Man Alive, Barry Allen couldn’t wait the seconds it would take his nephew to reach him.

“I missed you,” Wally mumbled into the red fabric against his face.

“I missed you more, kiddo.” Barry was glad that the lenses in his cowl hid the fact that his eyes were watering. Not even Batman telling the Flash that his partner was safe could satisfy him, could alleviate him of his concern, or could make him stop tossing in bed wondering where Wally was. Only this, his nephew in his arms, could reassure him that Wally was ok.

Barry heard a soft sniffle from Wally and a whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too, that I didn’t prevent this.” Barry knew that part of this was his fault, his inability to see what was so terribly wrong with his in-laws and not handling it well enough. Despite those feelings, it didn’t mean that Barry was happy about Wally running away and not telling him where he was. “But if you ever do something like this again you’ll be grounded for a year.”

That got him a small laugh. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good and know that I love you, Wally, you can always come to me for anything.”

There was another sniffle. “I love you too, Uncle Barry.”

They stood like that for a minute, a hug between uncle and nephew filled with relief and mutual comfort. For the two speedsters that minute stretched for what seemed like hours. A moment that only the Flash and his partner could share as no one else understood the way time went by for them.

In the background they could hear Megan’s overjoyed squeal. “It’s just like TV!”

Artemis laughed, “More like an afterschool special.”

Wally pulled away from his uncle, a little self conscious by their audience. The Flash just snickered at his partner and ruffled his hair, before noticing the oversized clothing his nephew was wearing. “What are you wearing?”

“Huh? Oh, these?” Wally tugged at Roy’s shirt. “Souvenir.”

The welcome back party consisted of the team plus the Flash eating in the living room, while the Flash told them embarrassing tales about his partner, both as Wally West and Kid Flash. Wally sat on the couch, sandwiched between his uncle and Robin. The Flash kept throwing his arm around his shoulders, anchoring Wally in reality and keeping his mind from wandering to darker places. Conner sat on the ground in front of the young speedster and he would eye Wally wearily as if he was waiting for him to run at any moment, though his hand on Wally’s ankle kept the thought from crossing the speedster’s mind. Megan, Kaldur and Artemis sat across from them, genuinely pleased to see him and expressed their emotions openly, letting Wally know that he was loved. And when he was sure no one was looking Robin would slip his hand behind Wally and stroked the small of Wally’s back, reminding Wally of his constant presence. 

They were all protective of him, but he didn’t feel stifled this time. They were worried about Wally because they cared, and he would worry too if anything happened to the people he loved, like Roy had said. Sometimes Roy said pretty smart things, when he wasn’t angry or sarcastic.

Megan leaned forward, her elbows on her legs and her green hands propping up her head. Her eyes were filled with awe as she listened to the Flash’s stories about Wally, his life was in many ways were like what she had seen on TV and many ways were not.

“I bet Wally was adorable as a child,” she said.

“He was. When I first met Wally he was a shy little thing with the biggest green eyes,” the Flash grinned. “He literally hid behind his aunt’s legs and refused to look at me.”

“Kid Flirt was shy?” Artemis repeated in surprise.

Kaldur regarded Wally quietly and nodded, “I can see it.”

“How did you get Wally to warm up to you?” Megan could imagine in her head the numerous bonding activities they could’ve done together, going to a fair, bowling, fishing, camping trips, having a heart to heart talk sitting on the front steps of a house, being trapped together in a life or death situation that forced them to confront their father-son feelings for one another. Though that last one wasn’t very likely.

“I took him to the science center at Central City. It’s a place that has a whole bunch of science related exhibits and programs that kids can participate in,” Barry smiled at the memory. “From the way he acted you would think I had taken him to Disneyland.”

“I wasn’t that excited,” Wally tried to deny it, but the Flash just waved off his comment.

“He was that excited. I instantly became Wally’s best friend, he even started mimicking me because he wanted to be just like me.”

Wally opened his mouth to protest, that was totally not the reason why he mimicked Barry. But the computer announced the arrival of Batman to Mount Justice, following several others. The Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Superman and Black Canary all appeared at roughly the same time, even Green Arrow and Aquaman appeared, quietly approaching the group sitting in the living room.

Wally had to remember to breathe, this was why he came back. He had to confront the situation he ran away from. The reality he had been avoiding was here and this time he was ready, or at least he thought he was. Seeing members of the Justice League reminded him of the intimidation and helplessness he had felt earlier, feelings that threatened to drown him.

“We need to speak to Kid Flash privately.” That wasn’t a request from Batman, it was an order.

Kaldur stood up, his pale eyes bright with defiance. “Whatever you say to Kid Flash, you can say in front of us.”

“This is a private matter,” J’onn insisted.

“Like a wall would prevent me from hearing,” Conner snorted.

Wally stood up as well, stepping towards the heroes had admired for so long. His mouth suddenly felt dry and he found he couldn’t speak for himself, but the Flash was suddenly at his side, showing his support for his nephew. He managed to summon his words. 

“We can do this here. I’ve made my decision anyway.”

“Wally, this isn’t really up for discussion,” Superman said. His eyes were sympathetic and for some reason that made something like anger flare up in Wally.

“No, I do have a choice.” His tone was firm and Black Canary smiled with pride.

He would have control over his own fate and no one else would tell him otherwise.

Wally had a choice.

 

Part 18

He totally contradicted Superman. That was the only thing that ran through Wally’s mind as he stood in front of members of the Justice League. His legs felt weak from saying no to Superman. Who the hell dares to object to what Superman says except for Batman? Wally was just the teenage partner of the Flash, hell, he wasn’t even standing before Superman as Kid Flash, he was there as Wally West. 

“Kid Flash,” Superman started again.

“No, this is my decision,” Wally interrupted. “Black Canary offered me a home and I’m accepting it. She’s the only one who bothered to ask me what I wanted and since I can’t live with the Flash or be in Central City … I … I want to live with her.”

The members of the Justice League were surprised, especially Green Arrow, Black Canary had obviously kept her conversation with Wally to herself. Their gazes landed on her, shocked, upset, confused. She was the team’s teacher, a fighter, but none of them had expected her to reach out and offer to be Wally’s guardian. She was not one of their choices.

Black Canary raised an eyebrow at her colleagues and looked exasperated. “Oh and sending Wally to a farm in the middle of nowhere was a much better idea.”

There was a heavy pause before Robin piped up, “Wally on a farm? That’s the stupidest idea ever.”

Batman glared.

“But it is!”

“My parents are willing to take you in,” Superman explained, trying not to look at Conner. “It would be a stable environment and my parents are used to raising a teenager with superpowers.” He tried really hard not to look at Conner.

“Thank you, but no,” Wally shook his head. “I’ve made my decision.”

“Why didn’t you talk to us?” Batman addressed Black Canary.

Wally quickly cut in. “Because it’s my choice! Black Canary didn’t need to talk to the League, she needed to talk to me.”

Oh god, he just talked back to Batman and that seemed so much worse than talking back to Superman. This wasn’t like the incident after Cadmus where he and his friends felt justified in their defiance. That it was for the overall good of the world, to shape them into better heroes for the future. Standing there Wally didn’t feel as justified as he did on that night, this wasn’t for any greater good, it was for him and him alone. His stomach flip flopped and he thought he might just throw up in front of the world’s greatest heroes. Did Robin ever feel this way whenever he dared to defy Batman?

The firm lines around Batman’s mouth softened and Wally thought he was going mad, because he saw the corner of Batman’s lips twitch upward. Great, he was delusional.

“I see that and we can’t force you into anything. You’ve already demonstrated that.” Batman looked over to the Flash. “But I think the Flash should have a say in this.”

Wally nodded weakly in agreement. He remained on his feet only because the Flash was holding onto his shoulder and Robin’s hand had wandered over to the small of Wally’s back again. They gave him strength, they all did. His friends were gathered close to him, giving him their silent support, letting him take the reins of the discussion. His team knew this was his choice, something he had to do himself, but that didn’t mean they had to let Wally stand alone. 

“I support whatever Wally wants. But Black Canary, are you sure about this?” The Flash asked. He had to make sure that the person who took in his nephew would be able to follow through, would be able to take care of him and love him.

“I wouldn’t have said I would give Wally a home if I didn’t mean it. And Flash, you’re always more than welcome to visit him whenever you want, no questions asked.”

Dinah was not expecting Barry to zip over to her and give her a hug. His voice was thick with emotion as he whispered to her, “Thank you, Dinah, I know he’ll be in good hands.” When he stepped away from her, he grinned, “You’re obviously the only person for the job. Uh, no offense to your parents, Big Guy.”

Superman gave the Flash a small smile, “None taken.”

“If the issue has been resolved, then I see no reason for us to be involved any longer,” J’onn stated. The Martian was acutely aware that all of their planning was for naught and that they should have anticipated the willfulness of Kid Flash, despite how uneasy it was. “Wally, if you ever need someone to talk to, I have been told that I am a good listener.”

There was something resembling a smile on the Martian Manhunter’s green face and Wally felt oddly pleased by the offer and from the Martian saying his first name. “Thanks, I’ll think about it.”

Wally watched as the members of the Justice League eventually left Mount Justice, Green Arrow gave Black Canary a pointed look, but Dinah waved him off, saying that they would talk later. 

While they weren’t all necessarily happy, a glare from Batman told them to respect Wally’s choice. Standing up for himself was a strange feeling when it came to his home life. As Kid Flash, Wally could talk back and dish it out as well as anyone and take charge of his life as a hero, but when he was stripped of that uniform, when he was just Wally West living in Central City, standing up for himself seemed impossible. Decisions and choices were out of his reach, Wally was meant to obey, keep his eyes down and only speak when spoken to. And now Wally West stood up to some of the most powerful people on Earth.

He should’ve been thrilled, like his friends were as they congratulated him for talking back to the League, patting him on the shoulder, squeezing his hands, messing up his hair. But Wally didn’t feel any happiness, even with the Justice League’s acceptance of his decision. Now that he had time to think about what happened the initial weakness and nausea he felt earlier only got worse. 

Black Canary, who remained to speak to her new charge, said, “I’m glad you accepted my offer.” Her pleasure was short lived though as she noticed the sickly pale shade Wally’s face had taken on. “Wally, are you feeling ok?”

“I’m … I’m …” The world seemed to tilt and his head was light. He was trembling from his anxiety and his eyes suddenly rolled back and his legs crumpled from under him, only vaguely aware that he was falling towards the ground.

“Wally!”

He wasn’t quite sure who said that or who caught him before the darkness claimed him, only that there was a moment of relief knowing that he wouldn’t have to deal with anything. When Wally opened his eyes again he was stretched out on the couch with Robin’s lap under his head and a blanket draped over his body.

“Wally,” Robin’s face lit up as his friend regained consciousness.

“Hey.” He was tired, his body was heavy and all he wanted to do was sleep.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I just talked back to both Superman and Batman in one conversation and then proceeded to collapse.” Wally turned his head, his cheek against Robin’s leg and closed his eyes, willing himself to go to sleep.

“Get some rest, kiddo, it’s been a long day.” His uncle was nearby and pushed Wally’s hair away from his forehead in a comforting manner. Uncle Barry was his hero, even without the super speed. And Barry was his father in ways his own never was to him like his Aunt Iris was a mother to him. They were his real parents.

“We’ll all be here when you wake up.” Black Canary was also nearby. She was tough, but Wally knew she’d make a good guardian for him and an excellent parent one day to her future kids. She’d probably have kids with Green Arrow, he thought, becoming Wally and Roy’s bizarre Green Canary step siblings. 

Wally started to nod, but stopped as the motion made him even dizzier than before. Instead he concentrated on Robin’s touch as the younger teen placed his warm hand on Wally’s cool cheek. Robin was always there for him, he was the rock that Wally clung onto in midst of his deepest lows. Sometimes when Wally was curled up in bed at his parents’ house he would focus on the next time he’d get to see his friend, one of the few things that kept him sane.

“Wally had every right to talk back to them,” that was Artemis’s voice, she sounded pissed. He and Artemis always bickered, but deep down she cared about him like he cared about her. In the way siblings who were always on the verge of killing each other cared. “And what’s with them trying to stick him with Superman’s parents?”

“While on the surface their decision did not seem like a bad one, it was inconsiderate of them, to both Wally and Conner.” Kaldur was there as the voice of calm reason. Wally secretly thought he could listen to Kaldur speak all day in his soft, proper tones. No one was steadier than their leader and Wally appreciated his consistency and quiet affection for his friends, especially when Wally’s life had very little of it.

There was a growl that could only belong to Conner. It must’ve hurt Conner to hear Superman telling Wally he could live with his parents when the same invitation wasn’t given to Superboy. Wally could understand that pain, the longing for affection from parental figures, and he made a promise to himself to be there for his friend like Conner was constantly there for him. Wally just hoped Superman would step up to his name and reputation soon for Conner’s sake.

“I’m just happy that Wally’s alright and he’ll have a good home. It’s the best outcome we could’ve hoped for.” Megan was as sweet as ever. There was a reason why Wally liked her so much besides her pretty smile and red hair, he was warmed by her never ending ability to think of others.

And Roy, whose clothes he still wore, was like his big brother. If he had a big brother who had a short temper and expressed his love by yelling at other people. But Roy was just as much of a rock to Wally as Robin was. Well, a grumpy rock.

Wally had some really great friends and family.

Suddenly Robin snickered. “Do you realize that they were going to send him to a farm?”

“On TV that’s what they do with old dogs,” Megan supplied helpfully. “It’d actually be a good place for Wally, he’d have more room to run around than in the city.”

“Oh Justice League, where did our old speedster, Wally, go?” Artemis asked between snickers.

“We sent him to a farm in the country where there are other speedsters and where he can run around and play!” Robin answered.

That caused Robin, Artemis, Black Canary and the Flash to dissolve into a fit of laughter as the only ones really understanding the reference. Wally flushed as he dragged the blanket over his head, letting them know that he heard their conversation. From under the blanket he announced, “I am going to live in Star City and I’m going to become partners with Roy and we are going to be so much cooler than you guys.”

Wally continued to grumble to himself as his friends laughed at him. He was so going to get news friends in Star City.

 

Part 19

Iris Allen wanted to meet the woman who was going to take care of her beloved nephew, so she and Barry went out to Star City for Wally’s official move in day into Dinah’s home. They brought a couple of Wally’s personal items from his room at their house, careful not to completely clean it out so not to rouse suspicion. When Dinah held out her hand to shake Iris’s, she was immediately pulling into a hug as Iris expressed her gratitude towards Dinah. The slight tremble in the other woman’s body told Dinah that she was still processing everything that had happened in such a short amount of time.

It wasn’t much of a move in day as Wally didn’t have a lot of things. Robin, Kaldur, Megan, Artemis and Conner came early in the morning with Wally to bring boxes of books, posters, games and clothes that they had bought for him and items from his room at Mount Justice. But there still wasn’t much. They piled the boxes in Wally’s new room, waiting for Wally to open them up and start putting together the room, but the speedster was more interested in exploring Dinah’s condo and reassuring his aunt and uncle that he was fine.

Dinah watched from the living room as Wally and their guests stood out on the balcony, admiring the view of the city before lunch.

“You have a teenager now,” Oliver Queen stated to his girlfriend as he stood next to her.

She raised an eyebrow at Green Arrow. “That I do.”

“Dinah—”

“Ollie, I know you regret what happened with Roy, but Wally and I are two completely different people from you and Roy,” Dinah said quickly, knowing where the conversation was going. 

She knew that Ollie liked Wally and cared about his wellbeing, but Ollie also loved her and he didn’t want to see what happened between him and Roy to happen to her and Wally. He wanted to spare her that pain. It was sweet, just sweet enough that it prevented her from kicking his ass for questioning her decision.

“Wally needs me,” she said softly. “And I will be there for him.”

“You know that this isn’t him just staying for a couple of months, he has at least three more years before he goes to college.”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Three years? You have to be kidding me, I’m in this for life.”

Ollie had to smile. She was an amazing woman. “Well, then I guess I’m in this with you and Wally. Someone will need to make that boy smile since you can be such a drill sergeant.”

They shared a moment, hands meeting and fingers entangling. This would be a fight that Dinah couldn’t do alone, and while she and Wally had several people in their corner, she was happy that they had Ollie’s support. She could understand his feelings and unease, Ollie made mistakes with Roy, but that didn’t mean that man didn’t love Roy like a son. Dinah was confident that after a little while Ollie would begin to see Wally the same way and maybe a mutual love for a young speedster would help to mend the rift between Ollie and Roy.

The front door opened and closed, and a voice called out, “Dinah? Wally? Oh …” 

Speak of the devil.

Roy stopped and stared at his former mentor and the woman who had just adopted one of his best friends. He held a small box that was wrapped in ridiculously bright yellow and red paper, the cheery looking present stood in contrast to the frown on Roy’s face. To his credit, Roy seemed to put aside his vendetta against Green Arrow and nodded his head towards them, the friendliest gesture he had made to Ollie in almost two months. He then turned his attention towards the people on the balcony and called out to Wally again, who was eager to meet his friend.

“Roy! You came!”

“Yeah, yeah, I came, I didn’t want Bird Wonder to bitch that I missed this.” 

“Hey!” Robin heard the insult.

“Here,” Roy thrust the present into Wally’s hands. “Open it later.”

“Aw, Roy, you shouldn’t have.” Wally grinned, bringing the box up to his ear and shook it gently.

“Come on, Wally, we’re going to go pick up lunch and take a look around the area,” Barry announced.

“Yes! Lunch!”

Ollie offered up his services. “I’ll come with you guys so you don’t get lost and you might need a few hundred dollars to feed all of these teenagers.”

There was shuffling and people bickering where they should go get takeout and asking Dinah what she wanted. Over the course of a couple of minutes the condo had emptied out, leaving Dinah alone with Iris. Iris had purposefully stayed behind from the chaos of a bunch of teenagers trying to decide what they wanted to eat, letting Barry and Ollie deal with it.

“I know you’ll take good care of Wally,” Iris suddenly said to Dinah as they stood in the living room together. “Barry trusts you with his life and Wally’s and that’s good enough for me.”

“But he’s your nephew and you want him to be your responsibility,” Dinah added.

Iris’s pretty face crumpled and she sat down on the couch to steady herself. “I’ve always been close to him. Or I thought so.”

Dinah sat down next to her. “From what I’ve heard from Wally, you two are very close.”

“How can I say that I’m close to him when I didn’t know?” The unresolved despair was clear in her eyes and voice. “God, how many times did he try to tell me, but I didn’t understand? How did I not know? You must think I’m just as bad as them.” 

The last word was said with such disgust that Dinah knew Iris was referring to her own brother and sister-in-law. “No, I don’t. You can’t blame yourself for not knowing anymore than you can blame Wally for not telling anyone. Wally’s father didn’t want anyone to know and he made sure no one did. I know it’s hard to comprehend that this went on without you knowing, but you can’t dwell on it, you need to be focused on Wally’s future.”

Iris nodded and carefully wiped at her eyes so not to smudge her makeup. “It just kills me knowing that he can’t be in Central City anymore. I would move in a heartbeat to be able to raise Wally, but with Barry being the Flash, well, Central City needs the Flash and I think my brother would know. He would know that I had Wally, he would hear it my voice or something would tip him off and if being with Wally puts him in danger then I can’t be selfish. But it hurts so much.”

“Hold on.” Dinah got up and disappeared into her bedroom, only taking a minute before coming back out. She sat back down and pressed something small and metal into Iris’s hand.

“A key?” Iris held up the object.

“The spare key to my condo. Consider this an open invitation to come over whenever you want to see Wally.”

A smile touched Iris’s lips as she threw her arms around Dinah. “It’s a good thing I’m married to the Fastest Man Alive, it’ll cut down on travel time. Dinah, thank you, for this. For taking care of Wally.”

Dinah was stiff in the hug at first, but allowed herself to relax and return it.

Iris pulled back and wiped at her eyes again. “I … I still can’t believe this happened. That this is happening. My brother, he was, we didn’t always get along as kids, but I always thought he was a good person. When Wally was born he and Mary were so happy, they seemed like a perfect little family, I … I envied Rudolph. He had Mary, who I thought was good for him, and Wally. You know, when I first saw Wally after he was born I had this crazy thought that I would take him right from the hospital and take him home with me, because I thought he was so cute.”

Dinah listened in silence. She had a feeling that these were thoughts and emotions that Iris didn’t say out loud, even to Barry. From the way Iris spoke and held herself, it almost seemed like a confession and if a confession is what this woman needed then Dinah would be there for her.

“I should have taken him,” Iris reflected. “He was so shy as a little kid and I always thought that who he was, but now I wonder … What if the abuse started then? When Wally was a toddler? I know Barry said that things didn’t get really bad until after Wally became Kid Flash, but Rudolph was always on the strict side. I just … I just can’t imagine anyone yelling at him, especially when he was that young. He was the sweetest kid, he still is, and he deserves the world … I just … I keep wondering if Wally was ever happy as a child.”

Those were things that Dinah wondered herself when she looked at Wally. How any child could have a moment of happiness in the kind of environment Wally grew up in, but she knew the truth. “I’m sure he was sometimes,” she replied. “He had you and Barry and all of his friends.”

That seemed to put her at ease, but then she struggled to say what else was on her mind, “I need to know … I mean, I know you’ll take care of him, that you care about him … But …” Iris trailed off, unable to finish.

Dinah grasped Iris’s hand. “If I didn’t love him like a son, if I didn’t love that team like my own kids, I would’ve never asked him to live with me.”

Another hug came Dinah’s way as the other woman said a shaky, “Thank you.”

Their conversation moved onto more pleasant topics until everyone else came back with lunch, Iris was curious about Dinah. Where did she grow up, who were her parents, did she have siblings, how did she get into crime fighting, could she teach Iris how to throw down a man twice her size, and what was the deal with Ollie, why hadn’t he proposed yet?

Long after the sun had sunk down into the west and their move in day gathering began to wind down, Iris and Barry lingered as long as they could as everyone slowly left. The couple had gotten hotel room nearby, despite Ollie and Dinah’s offers to put them up at their respective homes. They were sticking around for a couple of days to make sure Wally settled in ok. Before leaving, Iris fiercely embraced Wally and Dinah, with tears misting up her eyes, even though they were planning on meeting for breakfast. There were even some sniffles coming from Barry before they left for the evening.

Closing the door behind of them, Dinah turned to Wally, saying, “Well, kid, it looks like it’s just the two of us—”

She stopped when she saw that Robin hadn’t left yet. They both stood there smiling innocently at her and all she could do was shake her head and sigh.

“Robin can spend the night.”

The two teens high fived each other with large grins on their faces.

“Hey, what did Roy bring you?” Dinah asked, spying the present sitting on the kitchen counter.

“Oh! I need to open that,” Wally grabbed the present and tore at the wrapping paper. His face lit up brighter as he held up his gift for both of them to see. It was a stuffed Robin doll with an over exaggerated smile wearing Robin’s old uniform of bold reds and greens.

“Cute,” Dinah said.

Robin didn’t think it was so cute, he didn’t mind superhero merchandise so much, but he wasn’t amused by the Robin merchandise that was produced. Especially the ones that displayed his old, terrible, god awful uniform. Why did Batman let a nine year old pick the color scheme? And Roy knew Robin’s feelings on the subject perfectly well.

Robin seethed, “Consider Roy dead.”

 

Part 20

In an ideal world Wally would have adjusted quickly, he would have smiled and talked like he did at Mount Justice. In an ideal world Wally wouldn’t even have to move in with Dinah, he would have loving parents, who told him everyday how special and how wonderful he was. But they did not live in an ideal world and Dinah never dwelled on what would be ideal, she was a fighter and as a fighter she faced reality, anticipating her next battle. In reality Wally did not have loving parents and he did not adjust quickly. 

At first it was hard to tell as Dinah’s condo seemed to have sprouted a revolving door and people were constantly coming in and out, and Robin and Wally seemed to have taken over her balcony as their campout spot at night, cuddled together in sleeping bags. When people were around Wally smiled and joked, he was like any other teenager. After a few days things had settled down, Barry and Iris reluctantly went back to Central City, Batman called Robin back to Gotham and everyone else fell back into their regular schedules. That was when Dinah noticed the sudden changes in Wally’s behavior.

The condo was quiet, which wasn’t unusual as there weren’t as many people around, but Wally didn’t talk unless Dinah spoke to him. Wally never snacked when they were alone in the condo together, never said when he was hungry, never served himself at mealtimes until Dinah prompted him to and never went for seconds and thirds until Dinah told him to. He was always in his room, not unusual for a teenager, but Dinah never heard any noises from the room, not the sound of music, the TV or video games. The moment Dinah suggested he do something, like start looking for a school in Star City as many of the schools in the area had already started, Wally did it without protest. When they were no longer alone at home, when Barry, Iris or one of Wally’s friends came over, Wally was talkative and he smiled at everyone, including Dinah.

She had to break him of his old routines and create new ones, to get him comfortable in his new surroundings, get him used to making his own decisions, even small ones. First she had to establish him at a school soon and while Dinah could’ve easily enrolled him at the high school only a few blocks away, she wanted Wally to decide. There were a lot of good schools in the area and he should have a say in his education.

So she sat him down at the dining room table one night as Wally looked dumbly at the papers in front of him, not really comprehending what Dinah was saying to him. 

“What school do you want me to go to?” Wally asked, not knowing why Dinah was asking him. He picked up one of the pieces of papers that advertised the special programs one school had.

“I have no preference. It’s your education. There are some private schools you can choose from too, Ollie said he would cover the costs.”

“I don’t want to be a burden.”

“Kid, trust me, it’s no burden at all,” Ollie said. “But private schools are a little stuck up if you ask me.”

“No one asked you, Ollie,” Dinah snapped. She wanted this to be Wally’s choice and she really didn’t want to hear Ollie’s opinion.

Robin, who was looking over Wally’s shoulder, grumbled almost inaudibly, “I go to a private school.”

Wally picked up a random brochure and opened it. His eyes went wide. “Oh my god! Look! Look!” He pointed to one of the columns in the brochure. “Star City Academy has Dr. Raymond Palmer as a guest physics teacher this year! He’s in Star City as a guest professor at a university for the year and the academy got him to teach a high school class to get advanced students interested in science! Uncle Barry got me all of his books! I wonder if he’ll sign them? Oh my god! I have to go here!”

He found the application materials and started filling them out, careful to use the false information provided to him. To protect Wally’s identity and to prevent needing his parents’ permission to transfer schools, Batman provided them with a completely new history for Wally with airtight forged documents. Apparently now he came from Keystone City, where he lived with his grandparents Jay and Joan Garrick, until they were no longer able to take care of him and sent him to a distant relative, Dinah Lance, who was now his legal guardian. Wally’s falsified school records now showed that he came from a school in Keystone, but his grades were still the same, which wasn’t a bad thing.

“Star City Academy is Gotham Academy’s sister school,” Robin whispered into Wally’s ear. “We’ll be a shoe in for the same colleges.”

“Stop trying to influence Wally!” Dinah had asked Ollie to come over to help make Wally feel more comfortable as he tended to shut down while they were alone and Robin appeared because that’s what he tended to do, appear. Now she was questioning the wisdom in letting them come over.

Wally smiled at the application. “I want to go here, Dinah. Even when Dr. Palmer leaves they still have a great science program, way more advanced than my old high school.”

Ollie glanced at the brochure. “That’s because they have all those rich parents funding it so their elite children can have even more advantages over their poorer counterparts.” Dinah shot him a withering glare and Ollie quickly amended himself, “But it’s a good choice, really good academic programs and stuff. And they start late too, so you won’t have to worry about catching up.”

“Yeah, it is a good choice,” Wally repeated softly. He frowned slightly, “I wonder if I can get in, it’s pretty late for enrollment or if I can even get into Dr. Palmer’s advanced class.”

“Hey, as long as they know we can pay tuition they’ll let you in. And when I come with you and Dinah to personally hand in your paperwork, they’ll be tripping over themselves to enroll you. Pretty soon you’ll get Dr. Palmer signing your books,” Ollie grinned.

Wally beamed and Dinah was relieved. She was afraid that it would be more of a challenge to get him to pick a school, but the comfort of other people around and the excitement of the prospect of being in a class with Dr. Palmer got him to decide quickly. It wouldn’t always be this easy though, but Dinah wanted the decision made she so could get Wally into a routine. Now she would have to wrestle the tiny things out of him on her own.

Kid Flash and Robin disappeared for the night, they were going to see their team at Mount Justice. Dinah reminded Wally to be home by the early afternoon so they could go drop off the paperwork at Star City Academy together. Once Ollie and Dinah were alone she stood up and smacked her boyfriend in the back of the head.

“Don’t ever try to make Wally doubt himself again!” She yelled. “I don’t care how elitist you think it is, you rich hypocrite!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Ollie cowered in his chair, trying not to get hit again. “It won’t happen again! But you know, he seems better, he made the decision on his own after only a little bit of hesitation.”

Dinah shook her head, “That’s because you and Robin were here. When we’re alone Wally is a completely different person, he won’t do anything without permission. I need to get him to understand that I’m not here to control him and that he can do things on his own.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, you got him to make a big decision for himself.” Ollie got up and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend’s waist. “If anyone can break him out of his shell, it’s you. So, the kids are away, how about we have some grown up fun?”

Dinah grinned, “Why don’t we go to your place? We’ll need more room for what I’m thinking of.”

The stupid smile on Ollie’s face didn’t falter until he realized that what Dinah meant was that she wanted to use the dojo at his mansion to wipe the floor with his face. As Ollie landed on the matted floor with a loud thud for the hundredth time, he made a mental note not to piss off a mama canary ever again.

And while Dinah savored her small victories, she found that those feelings of accomplishment were short lived.

The next day had started out well. She, Ollie and Wally went to Star City Academy to give them his paperwork. When the people at the front office saw Oliver Queen they were immediately escorted to the principal’s office. The principal took a look at Oliver and at Wally’s transcripts and she reassured them that Wally was more than welcome at the academy. When Ollie took out his checkbook to pay the tuition and asked if Wally would be able to get the classes he wanted so late in the game, the principal was swift to state that the teen would have his choice of classes. Even the advanced science class he wanted that was already to capacity.

Ollie took them out to lunch afterwards and they laughed at the reaction of the employees of the school and mused at the opportunities that Wally would have for the future. They returned to Dinah’s place, where not long after Roy dropped by unannounced, as he had ever since Wally moved to Star City. Roy openly glared at Green Arrow, but they both kept the peace, keeping the conversation centered on Wally. He even stayed long enough to eat dinner with them before he and Ollie left, probably to kill each other or go on patrol, leaving Dinah and Wally alone. Wally vanished into his room, doing whatever it was he did in there.

Dinah sat in the living room, watching TV when Wally silently shuffled by. His movement caught her attention and she smiled over at him.

“Wally, do you want to watch TV with me? I’ll even let you have the remote,” she waved the remote at him.

Wally froze and looked torn between whether to go into the living room or run. Finally, he made up his mind and he slowly walked towards the couch, his bare feet crossing over from the slick hardwood floor of the hallway to the soft carpeting of the living room. He sat as far away from her as possible, sitting on the edge of the couch and his eyes were fixed onto the floor. Pale skin was even paler than usual and Dinah could see the shiver in his body.

“Wally?”

When she reached her hand out to touch him, Wally bolted towards the bathroom. Dinah didn’t anticipate that reaction and she was even more alarmed when she could hear Wally loudly retching between sobs. By the time she made it to the bathroom, Wally had already flushed the toilet and he was busy rinsing out his mouth. His reddened eyes widened in horror when he spotted her in the doorway and he shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Wally babbled as tears ran down his face as he slid down to the ground, his legs unable to support him anymore. There was something clutched his hand that he ritually fiddled with. “I know, I know, I’m not allowed, not allowed in the living room, not allowed there when company isn’t over. I didn’t mean to, didn’t mean to.”

All Dinah could do was to kneel down and bring Wally into her arms, rocking him as he sobbed out apologies.

“Oh, Wally, you’re allowed, it’s ok, you’re allowed, you’re always allowed,” Dinah said soothingly to the boy. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but when she suddenly noticed the silence that filled the room, she saw that Wally had fallen asleep, exhausted from his own emotions and distress. He was holding on his goggles, the object that he had been fiddling with earlier. Picking him up, Dinah took him to his room and tucked him into bed, placing his goggles on the nightstand. For once she got a good look at his bedroom since he moved in.

The bedroom was bare.

All of Wally’s things sat in the boxes they had been delivered in, untouched. The only proof that Wally was even living in that room was the clothes that hung in the closet and the dirty clothes in the hamper. It still looked like the guestroom Dinah kept, the same blank walls, the same tidiness, and the same dark sheets and blankets that were on the bed before Wally came. This wasn’t a teenager’s room. What he even do in here? Sit silently? Why didn’t Robin ever say anything about it?

Then she realized that Robin was never in Wally’s room, they always hung out elsewhere and slept out on the balcony, because Wally insisted it would be cool to do so.

Dinah stroked Wally’s hair and noticed something sticking out from under the pillow. It was the Robin doll Roy had bought him. She took the toy Robin from its hiding spot and placed it Wally’s arms, watching as he curled around the doll.

“I’ll do better,” she promised.

 

Part 21

“Why am I here?” Roy demanded as he stood in the middle of an IKEA with Dinah.

“Because I wanted a friend with Wally and everyone else was unavailable.” Not completely true, but true enough to Dinah.

“Ok, so why is he here?” Roy pointed his finger angrily at Ollie, who was standing with Wally, looking at desk.

“Because I can’t afford to refurnish a bedroom and my billionaire boyfriend can.” That was a complete untruth, she had saved up plenty of money, but Ollie seemed so earnest to help out Wally in any way he could. And she was not trying to get Roy and Ollie in the same places together, not at all. Not even a little bit.

“I hate you,” Roy mumbled.

“Aw, you love me,” Dinah teased. “If you behave I’ll get you some Swedish meatballs.”

“You better.” Roy scowled at her and then said, “He’s not really improving, is he?”

“We can’t rush this. Things don’t magically get better just because he’s away from his parents.”

The teen growled, “I am going to kill the Wests for what they did to him.”

“Get in line.”

Wally was excited to go shopping for furniture, he had never done so before. But when they returned home with the boxes of unassembled fixtures, all of the old furniture had been hauled away, and Roy and Ollie were fighting over the best way to put together his new desk (neither of them were looking at the directions), he began to feel uneasy. This room wasn’t his, it belonged to Dinah, who was he to change it? Even though it was Dinah who dragged him out of the condo, saying that his room looked too boring and that the furniture was really too dull for a teenager, Wally was beginning to feel bad about it. A recognizable tightness in his chest told him that he needed to sit down, needed to concentrate on breathing, needed to focus on the bits of joy he had felt before when he was picking out a new dresser, bed, desk, nightstand and a million other things that a bedroom needed.

Dinah was at his side immediately. 

“I’m ok,” there was a weak smile with his reassurance. “I just … It’s … It’s your guestroom.”

“No,” she was firm, but gentle with her words, “no, this is your room now. This is your home. This is a place where you have say over what happens here, this is a safe place.” There was a bang and shouting coming from Wally’s room and Dinah sighed, “Well, this is a safe place for you, not necessarily for Roy and Ollie. Let’s go make sure they haven’t killed each other yet.”

“Yeah, I don’t want any bodies in my room.” The tone didn’t have much conviction when he said ‘my room,’ but it was a start.

The conflict didn’t end up in the bloodbath as Dinah feared, but Roy did stomp away and Ollie’s mood didn’t recover, so Dinah sent him home when he started pouting like a child. It left her and Wally alone to put together his room. She talked to him, told him stories about being a part of the Justice League, of her youth and of her training. She was conscious to repeatedly call Wally by his name and to ask him questions every once in awhile. When they were placing the furniture around the room, Dinah made sure to ask Wally where he wanted them, not hinting at all where it might go and waiting patiently as Wally struggled to make those simple calls.

“I … I really … I think this is … nice,” Wally stammered, looking a little flushed over the spontaneous statement once they had finished assembly the rest of the furniture and put them in the perfect places around the room.

“So do I, you have good taste. Maybe we should think about redecorating the condo together.”

Wally smiled a little.

“Now we need to unpack your stuff.”

That made Wally nervous, his eyes darting to the boxes.

“We can put out whatever you want, these are your personal items, Wally.” Dinah grabbed one of the boxes and opened it up. She found a large folded piece of paper that she took out, but it was quickly snatched from her.

Wally held the paper to his chest, “It’s … It’s my … Souvenir.”

“The banner from your welcome back party,” Dinah guessed and watched as Wally slowly nodded in confirmation. “You know, I don’t have a trophy room, but I do have my home office that we can put your souvenirs in if you like.”

“That’s … That’s one of your rooms.”

“The office is for you to use too. Every room is, except maybe my bedroom.”

Wally stayed silent and his eyes were disbelieving. He nodded, though her words weren’t really making it into his hyperactive brain.

“Wally, this is your home too, there are no arbitrary rules of what you can and can’t do.”

“They aren’t arbitrary.” The voice was so quiet that Dinah almost didn’t hear them.

“What?”

“They aren’t arbitrary rules,” Wally said louder as he put down the banner and one of his hands slipped into his pants pocket, Dinah had figured out that was where he usually kept his goggles. “They were never arbitrary. They were there for a reason.”

“No,” she tried to refute it, but Wally was insistent.

“They had a purpose,” his speech was getting faster as Wally began to panic as he sat down on the bed, drawing his legs to his chest. “They had a purpose, they kept order, I knew my place. Only allowed in the kitchen, bathroom and my room. Can’t eat without permission. Come home right away. Only leave for emergencies. No personal possessions. Have good grades or else. No talking back. No friends over. No afterschool activities. Don’t speak unless spoken to. Smile when company is over.” He buried his face into knees. “This place is arbitrary! I don’t know my place!”

For all the hits that Black Canary had taken, the bruises and broken bones she had suffered through, none of it compared to the pain in her heart at the sight of Wally looking so small and lost. She sat next to him, hugging him, whispering comforting words to him, telling him everything would be ok, that she would take care of him. 

Wally just shook his head, repeating to himself the rules that had defined his home life for years. He was used to the balance of being free as Kid Flash, having that bit of control over his life, but it felt so wrong to be home and told to make his own decisions. Everything seemed like a test to him, testing him to see if he would break the rules that were ingrained into him. On one level he knew that Black Canary would never do anything to hurt him, she would never act like his mother or father and he wanted to make Dinah happy by acting like a normal teenager and not put her through the sorrow that he saw in her eyes. But he didn’t know how to. When he was around other people he could function, but once he was alone with Dinah in the condo he reverted to the way he acted at his parents’ house under his father’s strict rule. Because it was the way he knew how to be Wally West in that context.

“Wally, you’re such an amazing young man,” Dinah said to him.

“No, no, I’m a thing, a freak.”

“You’re not a thing or a freak!”

It came out so harsh that Wally froze and he saw the anger in Dinah’s face. It was an anger that wasn’t aimed at him, but directed at the people who had taken away so much from him.

Dinah gently cupped Wally’s face and forced him to look her in the eyes. “I need you to understand that you’re a not a thing or a freak. You’re a person. You’re an amazing young man that I respect and love. You’re kind, intelligent, loyal, strong, and you’re a hero. You are a person, Wally West.”

Wally uncurled himself and hugged Dinah, crying into her shoulder. The emotions in him were mixed. He was still confused and scared, but he was also cheered to hear Dinah say such kind things to him and he knew that she meant every word of it. She cared.

Once he calmed down and he sat back away from Dinah, and his guardian gave him a smile, saying, “Come on, your stuff isn’t going to unpack itself and your room is still looking pretty bare to me.”

Wally gave her a watery smile and nodded.

They barely made it halfway through unpacking before they decided to break for dinner. Wally took a long time to decide where to put a simple trinket and he shyly explained that when he got his room at Mount Justice it took him almost a week to arrange it the way he liked it. Dinah didn’t mind and continued to encourage him. 

Wally went to go take a shower and Dinah went to the kitchen to start dinner, or order something to be delivered. When she entered the kitchen, she wasn’t terribly astonished to find Robin sitting on the counter, swinging his legs against the cupboards and bags of Thai takeout food next to him. She crossed her arms and frowned at the young teen.

“Off the counter, young man.”

“Sorry,” he smiled sheepishly as he hopped down. “I brought dinner.”

“I see that, thank you. Wally will be out soon, he’s taking a shower.” Dinah went to grab something to drink. “I’m not surprised to see you. You have Wally’s room bugged, don’t you?”

Robin didn’t answer.

“You know, just because Batman does it, doesn’t mean you should.”

Still no reply.

“I guess that’s how you guys in Gotham show affection.” She handed Robin a soda. “I’ll let it slide for now. But stop violating Wally’s privacy, and my privacy, and get rid of the recording devices tonight.”

“I’m not letting anything happen to Wally again.” All the mirth had vanished from Robin’s voice and the furrow of his brow reminded Dinah of Roy.

“I know you’re concerned about Wally, I don’t think there are many people who care about him more than you. But you have to trust Wally.”

“I do trust Wally. I don’t trust anyone else.”

If it came from almost anyone else, Dinah would’ve been insulted by the implied distrust, but this was Batman’s protégé and despite his words, she knew he really did trust her. It was one of those moments when Dinah sometimes wondered if Robin was Batman’s biological son. The depth of Robin’s commitment and the measures he’d take to keep his friend safe certainly made her think of the Dark Knight. She didn’t necessarily approve, but she could never fault Robin for caring about Wally.

She held out her hand to Robin. “Get rid of your bugs and I’ll ignore the fact that you have a tracer in Wally’s goggles.”

Robin didn’t let on that he was surprised that she knew about the tracer. She had worked with Batman before and she had probably been on the receiving end of tracers and bugs before she earned his mentor’s trust. He grasped her hand and shook it.

“Deal.”

Robin wasn’t keen on compromising on Wally’s safety, but Dinah did say for him to get rid of his recording devices.

She never said anything about Batman’s.

“I also want any bug or tracer from Batman cleared out of our home, or I will tell Wally,” Dinah threatened.

Robin’s shoulders sagged.

Well, damn.

 

Part 22

Wally wasn’t deaf to the whisperings of his new school.

Rumors were flying around that Oliver Queen was Dinah’s sugar daddy and that’s the only reason that he, some no name kid from the middle of nowhere, ended up at the prestigious Star City Academy. He had anticipated this, though it didn’t hurt any less. Wally wasn’t being bullied, but he wasn’t making any friends on his first day of school. Public school might have been less cruel, and he wouldn’t have to wear a stupid uniform, however he knew he wouldn’t have been any happier. He was known as a weird kid at Central City High School and that would’ve transferred over into any other school he went to. At least at the academy he had better academic opportunities and he could take a class from Dr. Raymond Palmer. 

And the academy had much better food.

One plus was that he enjoyed his classes there more than at his old high school. A placement test he had taken before school started put him in almost all honors classes. Even on the first day he could tell that they would provide a challenge to him that would distract him from his other problems. And Wally was most excited for his last class of the day. Advanced physics with Dr. Raymond Palmer.

The classroom was mostly filled with seniors that Wally didn’t recognize anyone from his other classes, so he quietly took a seat at the front of the room. In his backpack was a worn copy of one of Dr. Palmer’s books, he wanted to get it signed after class, if he could work up the nerve to ask him. He sat up straight in attention and basically transcribed everything Dr. Palmer said during the period, even the things that didn’t seem to matter. 

Wally lingered in his seat after class had ended and the school day was over, unable to choose whether or not to go up to Dr. Palmer and speak to him.

“Wally?” Dr. Palmer walked over to his desk.

Wally tensed and started gathering his notebook and backpack, “Uh, Dr. Palmer … I … I was just leaving …”

“Actually Wally, I was hoping to talk to you after class. Do you have time?”

Talk to him? Dr. Palmer wanted to talk to a lowly sophomore? “Um, yeah …”

“Excellent,” Dr. Palmer took the seat next to Wally. “Did you know that you’re my youngest student?”

“Oh.” Was this the part where Dr. Palmer was going to ask him to drop the class because of his age?

“I’ve looked at your placement exams and transcripts and I wanted to let you know that I think you are a very promising student and that I’m sure you’ll do well in this class. I also wanted to ask you if you’ve thought about joining the science club? It’ll be fun and a good way for you to make friends. I’ll be helping out this year, so there will be at least one familiar face.”

“Uh, I … I’ll think about it,” Wally said quietly, wishing that he could hide the blush creeping up his face. Raymond Palmer thought that he was a promising student. When it looked like Dr. Palmer was about to get up, Wally opened his mouth and what came out made him sound like a completely obsessed fan. “I’m so happy to meet you, I’ve read all of your books, Dr. Palmer. I have a list of questions that I want to ask you about your thoughts on nanotechnology that you brought up in your last book. I actually have the book here with me and would you please sign it?”

Wally held the book out that he usually hid at his aunt’s house and Dr. Palmer took it, looking over the book carefully. The book was obviously used, the book jacket was creased and torn a little, certain passages had underlines, sticky notes stuck out of the edges, and notes and questions were written in the margins. Ray Palmer flipped open the cover of the book and took out a pen from his pocket and wrote a message in his messy script.

“I have to say that I’m impressed,” Dr. Palmer smiled as he handed Wally back his book. “My colleagues usually assign my books to their upper division classes at the university. I never expected a high school student to read one, let alone all of them.”

“I … I didn’t … I didn’t understand everything,” Wally admitted shamefully.

Dr. Palmer laughed. “I don’t expect you to, a lot of my college students don’t understand half of what I write. It’s good that you’re willing to admit that you have questions, it means you’re eager to learn. So, what did you want to know?”

They only talked for half an hour, Dr. Palmer had a prior engagement to attend, but he promised Wally that they would talk more after class tomorrow. He also produced a flyer with information about the science club and encouraged Wally again that he should join. As Wally walked out of the classroom, he opened his book to take a look at the message Dr. Palmer left for him.

‘To Wally – With an appreciation for your passion for science and a hope that we will work together as colleagues in the future. Sincerely, Raymond Palmer.’

Wally all but skipped out of the school, the lingering students gave him funny looks as he went by. He didn’t care, he talked to Dr. Raymond Palmer, who thought he was a promising student, signed his book, and was happy to answer his nerdy questions. Wally skidded to a halt when he noticed someone glaring at him from the parking lot, sitting on a motorcycle.

“Roy!” Wally ran through the parking lot, careful not to get hit by passing luxury cars, making his way to his friend.

Roy handed him the spare helmet. “About time you got here. I was waiting forever.”

“Sorry, I was talking to one of my teachers.” Dinah had dropped Wally off in the morning, however she told him she’d be home late as she had League business to attend to. Wally figured that he would be walking home, it was a few miles away, which was nothing to a speedster. Wally made sure his backpack was securely on his back and wrapped his arms around Roy. “Come on, let’s go home!”

Roy didn’t come up with Wally to the condo, instead he ruffled Wally’s hair and told him to call him on the days Dinah was unable to pick him up or drop him off at school before speeding off. When Wally let himself into the condo, he quickly realized that he wasn’t alone as familiar shoes and a purse were lined up next to the door. Wally hastily kicked off his shoes and put his backpack down and ran to the living room where he heard soft voices.

“Wally!” Iris immediately hugged her nephew. “How was your first day of school?”

He didn’t care why they were there, if Dinah asked for them to come over or if they were just checking up on him, he was just happy to see them. Wally told them about the classes he was taking, his meeting with Dr. Palmer and he showed them the book, and the possibility of joining the science club. Before joining a club would’ve been out of the question and Wally was a little nervous about signing up, but the brightened looks on his aunt and uncle’s faces told him to go for it. While he didn’t make any mention of friends, Uncle Barry smiled at him and said that the science club would be a good opportunity to meet people who had similar interests as him.

“Let’s go take a walk and get something to eat,” Iris said. “Dinah said that there were some good restaurants in the neighborhood.”

“And there’s a comic book store on the corner,” Barry grinned.

A part of Wally wanted to insist on staying in. His old routine dictated that he come straight home, do his homework and be quiet. However that morning, after Dinah had given him a hug and an embarrassing kiss on the cheek in the school parking lot, she suggested to him that after school he should go explore the neighborhood and get used to the area. That was right before she reminded him that his curfew of ten o’clock on school nights started that day.

“Don’t worry, I know that they didn’t give you any homework on the first day of school,” his uncle said as he wrapped his arm around Wally’s shoulders.

Wally finally relented. “Ok, let’s go take a look around. Just let me get out of my school monkey suit first.”

What had started out as a bad day had turned out to be a good one. Wally was still riding the high of talking to Dr. Palmer, the addition of Roy picking him up and seeing his aunt and uncle made his day that much better. He was happy to be with them and he remembered all the times he pretended that Iris and Barry were his mom and dad, that they were a little family. That fantasy had been a refuge in Wally’s mind and he knew now that it was more of a reality than a fantasy. While he couldn’t live with them, they loved him the way parents should love a child.

They grabbed dinner at a nice looking Italian bistro, with Barry and Wally using their best table manners so they wouldn’t embarrass Iris out in public with their super fast eating. Halfway through Wally’s second plate of pasta, his uncle cleared his throat, catching Wally’s attention.

“So, have you thought about J’onn’s offer?” Barry asked.

Wally made sure to swallow his food, before saying, “Huh?”

“To talk to him.”

“Oh, I guess. Well, not really.”

“It might be good for you to talk to someone,” Iris suggested, her hand lightly grasping Wally’s. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Wally squeezed his aunt’s hand. “I’ll think about it, I mean, I’ll really think about it.”

His aunt and uncle were satisfied with his answer and went back to their dinner. Any anxieties that were building up in Wally over the short conversation were eased by Barry’s stories from work, of catching the bad guys using science.

Their time together was over too soon and Wally found himself back at home as his aunt smothered him in kisses, tearing up like she did whenever they parted these days. Wally had to admit that there were also tears in his eyes when he said goodbye to his aunt and uncle. Iris promised to visit over the weekend and Barry told him he would see him before the weekend at Mount Justice for training.

After they left, Wally picked up his previously abandoned backpack and wandered into the office, staring at an emptied out bookshelf. Dinah said that if Wally wanted to, he could leave his souvenirs in the office so both of them could appreciate them. She was determined to incorporate him into the rest of the landscape of the condo. Framed pictures of his friends and aunt and uncle were hung in the living room with pictures of Dinah’s own friends and family. Less formal pictures of Wally and his friends were taped on the refrigerator. She had replaced the bland looking shower curtain in the main bathroom with a Flash themed one. And now she had the banner from his welcome back party hanging over the empty bookshelf in the office. He loved her for her efforts.

He took out the book Dr. Palmer had signed from his backpack and placed it on the shelf. His other souvenirs celebrated the missions and the work he did with his team and they belonged at Mount Justice. His banner and his signed book were souvenirs that celebrated his new life and they belonged at home. There was a part of him that didn’t want to leave out the book, he wanted to hide it away so no one could take it away from him, but Wally managed to calm himself down and left the book where it was. He still had some time to change his mind before Dinah came back home.

Looking at his watch, Wally noted that it was only seven o’clock in the evening, but he was tired. He went into his room, not bothering to turn on the light and flopped down onto his bed. Or at least he thought he was flopping down on the bed. Instead he hit something warm and boney that made a noise.

“Jesus!” Wally jumped off of the moving lump in his bed and scrambled to turn on the overhead light. He really should’ve expected this. “Dude! What are you doing here?”

“Taking a nap,” Dick snapped, not pleased that Wally had almost crushed him.

“In my bed!?”

“Supey’s in your closet.”

“Am not!” A muffled cry came from Wally’s closet.

Wally jerked open the closet door and Superboy was standing there. “Still not used to sleeping in beds, Conner?”

“Robin had already claimed it.”

“Ok, why are you two here?”

“We wanted to surprise you, but we saw you were out with your aunt and uncle. The others went home and Robin and I decided to wait for you.” Conner explained. He then looked a little nervous as he asked, “So … do you want to … hangout?”

Wally grinned. “Yeah, that sounds great.”

They all sat on the bed, watching the TV in Wally’s room. Conner was stretched out at the foot of the bed, while Robin and Wally were sitting close together on the other end, with Wally resting his head against Robin’s shoulder. The entire time the smile didn’t leave Wally’s face.

“You look pretty happy,” Robin said, a smile forming on his own face.

“Yeah, actually, I am.”

“What are you happy about?” Conner asked as he lifted his head to look at Wally, curious as to how to make his friend happy.

“I don’t know, it’s just been a good day.”

It was true, Wally was happy that it had been a good day.

And he was happy knowing that there could be good days.

 

Part 23

“So, um, what do I talk about?”

“Whatever you wish to speak about.”

“Do I, do I have to talk about, well, you know, them?”

“If you do not wish to speak about your parents, then we will not.”

“Oh, well, I really don’t want to. Not now anyway.”

Wally sat in his room at Mount Justice with the Martian Manhunter, who told Wally to call him J’onn when they talked like this. J’onn was pleased when a few days ago the Flash appeared and told him that Wally said that he wouldn’t mind talking with the Martian. With that J’onn got a hold of Wally and they chose a place to meet where Wally would feel comfortable.

“I, um …” Wally scratched the back of his head, not sure what to talk about. “I really like living with Dinah. She’s really cool and understanding. You know, about the whole being a superhero thing. I guess that isn’t surprising, she’s a part of the Justice League and she can destroy things by screaming. You know, I used to think that I could’ve lived here in Happy Harbor or even with Roy, if I couldn’t live with Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry. Now I kind of get it. The other day Roy wanted me to come out on patrol with him and if Dinah didn’t tell me I needed to finish my homework first, I probably would’ve gone with him. She’s good at that, the whole keeping me on track and focused on my studies thing.” 

There was barely a pause before Wally suddenly asked, “Do you know why I told Uncle Barry I was ready to talk to you?”

J’onn knew, M’gann had mentally called out to him crying and scared. The Martian nodded and said, “I would like to hear it from you.”

“I feel so bad about it. It was all my fault!” Wally covered his face with his hands, but J’onn gently pried them away. J’onn wasn’t going to let him hide.

“Tell me what happened, Wally.”

“I … This is so stupid … You know about the alien robot from outer space thing that happened last week? Dinah got called away around three o’clock on Thursday because of it and I didn’t see her until after school Friday. She looked so tired when she came home, I guess it was a nonstop fighting kind of day. She basically collapsed in bed and didn’t wake up until Saturday morning.”

“What were you doing when she was away?”

Wally looked guilty and whispered, “What I do all the time. Finished my homework, Roy took me to school in the morning and picked me up on Friday. I hung out in my room. Being out in the other rooms still kind of freaks me out. Saturday morning, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and I … I passed out. I guess I hit my head on the counter when I went down and, and Megan, she …”

“M’gann found you,” J’onn filled in the blank. 

He had seen the images from his niece’s mind of what had happened when she flew up the building, landed on the balcony and entered the condo from the unlocked sliding door early that Saturday morning with a tin of cookies in her hands. She wanted to surprise Wally as she was unable to meet with him the night before. The condo was quiet, so M’gann went to the kitchen to put away the tin of cookies before going to Wally’s room to wake him up. She went down the hall and saw that the bathroom light was on and the door was open. Peeking inside she found Wally, lying on the tiled floor with a pool of blood forming around his head from where he struck the counter on the way down. 

Her screams of panic woke up Black Canary, who raced out of her room expecting to engage in a fight. Instead she found M’gann in the bathroom cradling Wally’s head in her lap, tears streaming down her face and there was blood. Blood smeared on the counter, blood on the tile, blood on Wally’s face and blood on M’gann’s hands and clothes. A quick check of his pulse, which was strong, told Dinah that her adopted son wasn’t seriously hurt and by that time the head wound had already healed itself. 

When he woke up, Wally was fine, he was just really hungry and had a bad headache. That didn’t prevent Black Canary from taking him to Mount Justice for medical attention nor did it stop her from calling Iris and Barry. His relatives weren’t mad, not at Wally or Dinah, but they were concerned about the accident.

“I didn’t eat, I passed out because I didn’t eat for over a day and a half,” Wally confessed. 

The whole issue was so stupid to him. The reason why he collapsed was because he couldn’t bring himself to grab something to eat while Dinah was away or even when she was home and sleeping. He tried, he tried so hard, but the anxiety that squeezed the air out of his lungs and the pounding of his heart prevented him from eating. So Wally spent most of Friday after school curled in his bed, his goggles in one hand and his Robin doll clutched to his chest.

“I tried, I went into the kitchen, but I couldn’t, I couldn’t bring myself to eat anything, not without permission, not without Dinah or someone else telling me I could. I know that I don’t need to, I don’t need permission, but I couldn’t do it, I didn’t even eat at school. Poor Megan, I didn’t mean for her to find me like that. She was scared, I never meant to scare her. And Dinah blames herself. She blames herself because she didn’t remind me to eat before she left! How fucked up is that? Uh, I mean, messed up, not that other word, um, please don’t tell Uncle Barry I swore.”

“Anything you say to me here stays between us.”

“Thanks. But I mean, Dinah shouldn’t have to worry about stupid things like that. I should know that I can eat, it’s not … it’s not like back there, where I couldn’t even touch food without someone telling me I could. Dinah shouldn’t blame herself, it’s my fault. I should’ve known better.”

“What happened was not your fault, nor was it Dinah’s,” J’onn reassured him. “You cannot expect to undo years of conditioning in a matter of weeks. This is a process, Wally, one that I hope to see you through.”

“I really didn’t want to talk about this, but I am because it’s always there, my parents, they’re always …” The young speedster sniffled a bit and his eyes burned. “It’s … It’s always going to be with me, isn’t it? I’m never going to get away from it. My dad, he’s always going to win, he’ll always have control over me.”

“Wally, your past will always be a part of you, but you will learn to control it and not let it control you. It will not be easy, but you are doing the right thing by coming here to talk with me.” The Martian’s hand carefully touched Wally’s shoulder. “You are a strong young man, Wally, you will overcome this.”

J’onn’s voice had so much confidence, so much hope, that Wally found himself believing him.

Once he got home later that day, Wally marched straight to the kitchen and picked up the abandoned tin of cookies that Megan had left for him. Dinah wasn’t home yet, so he was alone, alone and without permission to eat on his own. His legs turned to jelly and Wally slowly slid down the cupboards until he hit cold, unyielding tile. Before his super fast mind could think a single thought, Wally tore open the tin and shoved a cookie into his mouth and ate it. He popped another cookie into his mouth as he felt tears forming in his eyes and he could feel the harsh pounding of his heart. His stomach turned with nausea and his face contorted with discomfort.

“I hope my cookies aren’t that bad.” Standing in front of him was Megan, who was smiling gently. “I came by to see how you’re doing after talking to Uncle J’onn.”

Wally swallowed down the cookie paste that had formed in his mouth. “They’re delicious and I’m feeling a little better now.”

“Great! Come on,” she stretched out her hand to him. She took the tin of cookies from him once he got to his feet and she started leading him away from the kitchen.

“Um, where are we going?” 

“To a slumber party!” 

“What?” 

Wally wasn’t sure what was going on, especially since she was leading him to his room. She opened the bedroom door and he saw that his teammates had already made themselves comfortable inside. Robin and Kaldur were sitting on the bed, Artemis had claimed the desk chair and Conner was sitting on the floor. 

“Do you guys ever ask before coming over?” Wally asked, dropping down on the bed between Kaldur and Robin as Megan took the spot next to Conner.

“We asked Black Canary if we could come over and bug you and she said it was fine,” Artemis explained.

“Too bad Roy refused to come,” Kaldur said. “He was not enthused over the prospect of a slumber party.”

“Next time we’ll just kidnap him, it can be a team activity,” Robin replied. 

Megan pulled out a bag that she had brought over and grabbed a list she had made up earlier. “I have some things for us to do! I really want to try this Truth or Dare game and then tell each other’s futures. Oh! And let’s give each other makeovers!”

Wally groaned, “Megan, you really need to stop watching TV.”

That night Wally was lying awake on the floor in his sleeping bag between Robin and Kaldur. He had given Artemis and Megan his bed and Superboy reclaimed Wally’s closet, leaving the door open this time. He flinched a little when Robin’s hand unexpectedly touched his face in the darkness. He thought his friend was already asleep. He saw in the dim light of the room a flash of white teeth peeking out from a wide smile on the other boy’s lips and the brightness of blue eyes as he removed the mask that he was sleeping in. Wally’s heart skipped a beat when Dick brought his face closer to his own and his hand was so cool against the warmth of Wally’s flushed cheeks. Dick’s thumb brushed lightly Wally’s cheekbone and his face and lips were so close, so close—

“You still have some lipstick and blush on your face from your makeover, Miss Wally.”

Dick let out hushed giggles, slipping his mask back on as Wally batted him away in annoyance.

“Don’t make me tickle you!” Wally threatened, trying to whisper, but a pillow to his head told him that he wasn’t being quiet enough.

“Go to sleep,” Kaldur grumbled.

Wally hit Kaldur back with his own pillow and the situation quickly disintegrated into a bunch of teens giggling and hitting each other with pillows, with Conner doing his best not to break anything or anyone. That was until a cranky Black Canary appeared in the doorway and her half awake glare got them to settle down and to crawl back into their respective sleeping spots, still giggling quietly. Wally didn’t want to fall asleep right away, instead he wanted to cling onto the moment of being surrounded by his friends and to listen to the sounds of their breathless laughter. It reminded him that he was safe and cared for. 

Wally knew he wouldn’t be broken of his old habits and fears right away and he would continue to make mistakes, but he had people who loved him, people to help him heal, people who provided him with moments like this. It would take time, but he could already see the difference between himself at that moment and himself from a week ago. And he knew by the next week he would make progress as well.

Next week he would be a little better.

Next week he would be more secure with himself.

Next week he would have happier things to talk to J’onn about.

 

Interlude 4 – Of Bats and Flashes

In Central City, Rudolph West came home to an empty house. Mary was out running errands, though even when she was home she hardly spoke to Rudolph anymore. He hated the silence that weighed down on his house. Not because he disliked silence, but because the silence wasn’t imposed by him, it was because that thing had run away and there wasn’t a trace of it. Iris and Barry had distanced themselves from Rudolph and Mary as a result of the thing running away. Rudolph could see it in Iris’s eyes and hear it in her voice, she blamed them and it frustrated him. Iris always took the thing’s side over her own brother’s.

Throwing his wallet and keys on the kitchen table, Rudolph went to get a beer from the refrigerator when the lights flickered once, twice and then finally went out altogether. Rudolph cursed loudly. Why would the power be out? Through the window he could see that the neighbor’s lights were still on and the streetlights were on, bringing a yellowed light into the darkness of the kitchen.

He jumped back as a dark shape moved in front of him, moving through the faint glow coming from outside and disappeared into the shadows. The figure moved again and disappeared with a cape fluttering behind of it. Then again and again, almost too fast for Rudolph to see. Then gauntlet covered hands seized Rudolph’s shirt and shoved him down onto the table, making the piece of furniture groan under the weight and force. He couldn’t see the details of the intruder’s face in the darkness, but against the dim light Rudolph could see the outline of two distinct pointed ears protruding from a cowl covered head and the harsh contrast of white lenses where eyes should have been.

“I know what you have done,” a deep, angry voice hissed at him. “I know the reason why your son ran away, I know what you’ve done to him and you are the scum of the Earth for it, I don’t even consider you a person. You’re lucky that I don’t put an end to your miserable life, but I won’t waste the energy on a thing like you. I want you to know that I will be watching you. Know that everything you do, wherever you are, I will be watching, waiting.”

Rudolph tried to say something, but he couldn’t, his vocal cords were frozen along with the rest of his body. Thankfully as quickly as it came, the figure disappeared into the shadows. He managed to take a shaky breath, sighing with relief that the ordeal was over. Once he got to his feet, the pointy eared figure came back, standing a step or two away from him this time and there was almost a lightness to its voice when it said its next words. 

“Oh, I almost forgot to give you this.”

Before Rudolph West could even blink a dark blur of a fist struck his face, sending him through the table and knocking him out. 

When he woke up, Rudolph was alone again, no evidence of what had happened except for the soreness of the bruise blossoming under his eye, the broken kitchen table and the tremble of fear in his body.

In another part of Central City, about ten seconds after Rudolph West was knocked unconscious by a single punch, Barry Allen stood on the rooftop of one of the skyscrapers and laughed as he pulled off an unfamiliar dark cowl and smiled at his companion.

“I haven’t felt this good in a long time.” Barry stretched out his arms over his head, still unused to the heaviness of the uniform he was currently wearing. “Thanks for helping me with this. I put those little bat recording devices all over and made a copy of whatever was on his hard drive, I really hope we find something. Man, you should’ve seen it! I think I put the fear of Batman into him.”

“Better Batman than the Flash, if he tells anyone no one will believe that Batman was in Central City,” Batman observed.

“I enjoy this off the books type stuff, the two of us should do this more often!”

“We aren’t making this a habit, but I’ll remember that the next time I need something done quietly.”

Barry gave him a large grin and a thumb up. “I look forward to it!”

Batman noticed that beyond the ridiculous grin on Barry’s face, there was a gleam of sheer satisfaction in the speedster’s eyes. “You punched him, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Good.”

The grin on Barry’s face just got wider. He looked down at the spare uniform that Batman had lent him and he was glad that Batman had agreed to his idea. The uniform also looked pretty good on him, not quite his style, but something to be appreciated. “Hey, can I keep the suit? Wally would get a kick out of it, he loves souvenirs.”

“I thought we decided not to tell Kid Flash.”

“Come on, Batman! He’ll really like it and you know the kid could use more reasons to be happy. I mean, it’s the Bat Suit! That’s what you call it, right?”

He continued to frown. “You can’t have it.”

Barry’s body slumped in disappointment.

“You can give him a batarang.”

A blur suddenly dashed towards Batman and Barry slung his arm around the Dark Knight. “Oh man, thanks! You’re the best! Wally will love it!”

Batman sighed. Speedsters were always trouble, especially the older ones.

 

Epilogue

Wally grinned widely as Roy placed a four scoop brownie sundae covered in hot fudge and extra toppings in front of him. They were sitting in the little ice cream shop where Roy had found Wally when he ran away during the summer. That summer was a memory now and while only a few months separated them from that summer, it seemed like a lifetime ago. And now they were at the ice cream shop for happier reasons, they were there celebrating the first day of Wally’s winter break. However Wally loudly complained that winter in Star City wasn’t a real winter, it felt like early fall at best.

“I never got to ask you, how did your school dance go? That new friend of yours asked you to go with her, right?” Roy asked as he took a bite of the ice cream. It had been a while since the last time he really had time to hang out with Wally, between both of their responsibilities it was sometimes hard to just sit and chat. Roy wasn’t actually interested in Wally going to school dances, but he was interested in his friend’s adjustment to his life at Star City.

“It was good, I went with Amy, she’s a junior from science club. I was really nervous for awhile, but I went with a group from the science club and it was fun,” Wally smiled at the memory of the night. “Amy looked really pretty too.”

“So you’re cheating on Robin with an older woman now?” Roy accused, though his tone was teasing.

“What? No! I mean, I can’t cheat on Rob, we’re not like that! But I …” Wally trailed off and took a deep breath. “I told her we couldn’t be involved like that. I don’t think I’m really ready for a relationship like that and she seemed to be pushing it a bit.”

“Understandable. How did she take it?”

“Pretty well. I kind of lied to her though. I, I told her I already had a girlfriend.”

“What?”

“I kind of told her I have girlfriend in Gotham. Named Robyn, Robyn with a Y.” The speedster’s face was bright red as Roy was dying of laughter. He continued once his friend managed to stop laughing, “She then asked me if my big brother with the motorcycle was available. She and every girl at the school think you’re my sweet older brother who picks me up. And that you’re hotness on a bike.”

“What!?”

“Apparently I’m cuteness on a bike. I don’t know why I have to be cute and you get to be hot,” Wally rolled his eyes at the semantics. “Anyway, I told Amy I’d ask for her. So big bro, are you available?”

There was an audible growl. “Leave me out of your high school romances.” The older teen scowled at his friend’s laughing face. Once Wally settled down, Roy asked, “How are you?”

Wally snatched the cherry off of the sundae before Roy decided to take it. “Better, not perfect, but better. I’m still talking to J’onn once a week, when we can, it really helps. I only had one freak out this week.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I kind of flipped out when I only got a B on my English assignment, but Dinah told me that it was ok.” 

Flipped out was an understatement, it was more like Wally had broken down in the middle of dinner and cried in front of Dinah and Ollie. Wally had been so scared sitting at the dinner table, his mind was fixated on the B he received from his teacher that day, so when Ollie innocently asked about how school was going, Wally burst out into tears. Dinah crawled under the table where Wally was trying to hide himself and held him until he calmed down, telling him repeatedly that she was proud of him. However Roy didn’t need to know the details.

“Jeez, a B? I would’ve killed for a B in high school,” Roy muttered. “I’m glad you’re doing better. We haven’t really talked in awhile and … I’ve been worried about you.”

“Aw, Roy! You do care!” Wally squealed. “Hey, did you want to hang out tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Ok, I’m not doing anything.”

“Great! Dinah and Ollie wanted to watch movies at home tomorrow and Dinah said I should invite someone over.”

Roy’s jaw clenched at the mention of Oliver Queen. “Then invite one of the sidekicks.”

“I want you to come,” Wally begged, making his eyes wider and sticking out his lower lip. “I want to hang out with you. Pleeeeeeaaaaaaase, Roy, pretty please!”

“You are such a bother,” Roy growled and then sighed. “What time do I have to be there?”

Roy dropped Wally off at home a couple hours later, grumbling when Wally reminded Roy of his promise to come over the next day. Inside Wally found Ollie watching TV while Dinah sat next to him, busy mending a rip in her favorite jacket from her last mission with the Justice League. With a second of hesitation, Wally walked into the living room and sat down in the plush armchair, not wanting to be caught on the couch when Ollie and Dinah started their inevitable cuddle fest.

“Hey kiddo, how was hanging out with Roy?” Ollie asked, sounding a little too eager to hear about his old partner.

“It was good, we got ice cream.” Wally thought about telling Ollie that Roy was coming over the next day, but decided to keep it to himself. He and Dinah had developed a game of who could get the two Arrows to be in the same place at the same time the most until they mended their relationship. Dinah was up by three, but Wally wasn’t beat yet.

“Robin’s here.” Dinah looked up from her work. “He was taking a nap in your bed when I went into your room to get your laundry about an hour ago. Tell him I want him to clean that windowsill, he’s tracking dirt when he comes in through your window. And tell him he’s welcome to spend the night.”

“I’ll tell him and thanks, Mom,” Wally said, not really thinking. It took him a second to realize what he had just said and when he did his face turned beet red. Ollie’s eyes were wide, but Dinah just continued to stitch up the hole in her jacket.

“You’re welcome, Wally,” she said, with no indication that she was bothered by what he called her.

Wally nodded silently and scurried out of the room.

Ollie stared at his girlfriend. “Did he just—?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Why did he—?”

“Because that’s what I am.”

True to Dinah’s words, Dick was napping in Wally’s bed, clinging onto a pillow and had kicked the Robin plushie to the foot of the bed in disgust. The other boy had an obsession with Wally’s mattress as he always took a nap on it when he could. It made Wally think that Dick came all the way to Star City just to take a nap and not necessarily to see Wally.

“About time you got back,” Dick muttered against the pillow. “Roy hogs all of your time.”

“He does not and you could’ve joined us.” Wally climbed into the bed next to Dick. Dick had some weird ability of knowing where Wally was at all times, he was still trying to figure out how the other teen knew.

“No, still mad at Roy.”

“Just because he made fun of your old uniform?”

“Yes!”

Wally laughed and sat up in the bed, turning on the TV. “Dinah said you could spend the night and that you have to clean up the windowsill, you track in too much dirt.”

“I’ll do it later. Oh! Leave it on this channel, I love this movie!”

They watched the movie together, the lights turned off as they made fun of the movie Dick had early proclaimed he loved. Wally was about to rag on the fact that no one walked away from an explosion without looking back, because explosions were cool, when Dick did something unexpected. Slightly chapped, cool lips belonging to the Boy Wonder brushed against the corner of Wally’s mouth. He was caught off guard and flushed at the brief, but intimate touch of Dick’s lips. It happened fast as the lips hastily pulled away almost as soon as they made contact that Wally almost believed that it didn’t happen, but even after Dick pulled away his skin tingled and refused to forget the contact. 

Did that count as his first kiss?

Before Wally could say anything, Dick quickly said in a defensive tone, “I just wanted to, ok?”

Wally’s hand slowly enclosed over Dick’s and a fond smile formed on his lips. “Yeah, it’s ok.”

Dick refused to look at him, keeping his eyes fixed on the movie, but he intertwined his fingers with Wally’s and a small grin tugged on his lips.

Watching the way the flicking light of the TV played across Dick’s face, Wally wondered how he could be so lucky to have so many wonderful people in his life. Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, Kaldur, Megan, Artemis, Conner, Roy, Dinah, Ollie, J’onn, and Dick, not to mention Batman, Red Tornado, Dr. Palmer, the Justice League and his friends from school. They were all precious to him and they fulfilled his craving for love and affection that he had been denied for years by his parents.

“Wally?”

“Dick?”

“Stop staring at me, it makes you look like a creeper.”

“Says the boy who just kissed me!”

“That, uh … Shut up!” 

It had started out with Artemis teasing Wally.

It had started, but there would be no end. Wally would never get rid of his past and the emotional scars he carried would always be there, there was no denying that. But he could face it. It had been over three months away from oppression of his father’s rules and his mother’s indifference and he was improving. He was moving on and celebrating the small victories along the way, trying not to dwell on the setbacks and moments of fear and panic. A day without an anxiety attack, grabbing a snack without permission, having friends over, sitting in the living room, speaking his mind, they were all victories Wally had over his father. His father wouldn’t win this fight, Wally would.

Dick paused in his teasing of Wally to gaze at the fifteen year old next to him and ponder over his friend’s achievements. Wally wasn’t the only one who noticed the differences in himself, but Dick did too. A new confidence that Kid Flash never had, something that he had often covered up by his loudness and faux boastfulness, shone through in him and it made Dick admire his friend even more. He had always thought highly of Wally, but knowing what he had been through and the strength he displayed made him even more special in Dick’s eyes.

Wally blinked at Dick, squirming at the way the thirteen year old was staring at him.

“What?”

“Does anyone tell you how special you are, Wally?”

“Yeah. You do, every day. Actually, you texted that to me this morning.”

“Well, I want to say it again.”

Dick leaned forward, touching his forehead to Wally’s.

“You are so very special, Wally West.”

And Wally believed him.


End file.
